Girls swimming: St. Charles North wins fifth straight DuKane Conference championship

Death, taxes and St Charles North winning the DuKane Conference girls swimming championship.

All seem certainties these days.

The North Stars claimed their fifth straight conference title with 268 points at Saturday’s meet hosted by St Charles East.

The host Saints were second with 228 followed by third-place Lake Park (199).

The North Stars were propelled by standouts junior Izzy Beu and sophomore Tess Stavropoulos. Beu won the 100 butterfly and 100 breastroke. The junior was part of the winning 200 medley relay team.

“I have been working stuff with the blocks and still lifting,” Beu said. “I am ready for the state series in two weeks.”

Stavropoulos won the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. The talented sophomore joined Beu on the first-place 200 medley and was part of the 400 freestyle relay.

“I want to go out fast and keep improving,” Stavropoulos said. “I want to keep want to keep lifting and working during the two-week layoff.

Jenna Williams joined Beu and Stavropoulos in the winners winning claiming the 100 backstroke.

“Izzy and Tess are really driven,” coach Rob Rooney said. “With Homecoming this week it has been a roller coaster. We have to answer what we are in the next two weeks.”

The runner-up Saints got a first place effort from Ella Mruk who won the 200 freestyle with a clocking of 1:59.79.

“It took a lot of practice to get to this point,” Mruk said. “Even though it really hurts it was a lot of fun. I really pushed myself.”

Payton Dorman, who is headed to Illinois State, won the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:13.27.

“I was aggressive from beginning to end knowing it was going to hurt,” Dorman said. “I feel good about going into the sectionals.”

Lulu Negro won the 200 IM and Vera Jackson won diving with 168.90 points.

“Our kids really stepped up,” said St. Charles East coach Adam Musial. “We took a different approach with kids swimming different events.

“We knew North would be tough, but our kids competed. We have a very versatile group.”

Lake Park, third with 199 points, got second-place efforts from Nicole Brzostowski in the 50 freestyle and Una Dizdarevic the 100 freestyle.

“I am very happy with the way we performed,” said first-year coach Ben Witteveen. “We are such a young team that is still learning,”

Wheaton coop (Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North) placed fourth with 133 points. They got a first-place finish from Haylie Hinckley in 1-meter diving with 435.15 points.

https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20231021/st-charles-north-wins-fifth-consecutive-dukane-conference-championship