On October 24th, 2020, the Benet girls swim team competed in the IHSA Sectionals meet at Metea Valley in Aurora. Despite not having fans in person, the Redwings finished this unusual season amid a pandemic on a strong note, and most of the girls even set personal records.

Juniors Jacqueline Yap and Kaili Marriott finished within two seconds of one another in the 200 yard freestyle, with Jacqueline Yap placing 16th and Kaili Marriott 18th. In the 200 yard IM Medley, senior Tabitha Torres and junior Maura Fitzgerald both set new personal records; Torres’s final time was 2:12.97, and Fitzgerald finished the medley in 2:14.93 (2020 IHSA). The 50 yard freestyle was another race in which the competitors—freshman Sophia Gastolek and senior Delaney Smith—swam personal bests. Gastolek swam the freestyle in 25.20 seconds, and Smith in 27.24 seconds (2020 IHSA). 

Freshman Sophia Gastolek and senior Tabitha Torres hit the lanes once again in the 100 yard butterfly, both beating previous times. Gastolek placed 15th in 1:01.07, and Torres placed 17th in 1:03.30 (2020 IHSA). Sophia Gastolek swam her final race of the day alongside her teammate, Maura Fitzgerald, in the 100 yard free. The girls finished within 0.1 seconds of each other: Gastolek’s time was 55.85 seconds, and Fitzgerald’s was 55.94 seconds.

Jacqueline Yap and freshman Meghan Bennett competed in the 500 yard freestyle, and both completed this extensive swim in under 5 minutes and 50 seconds. Bennett even set a personal record: 5:49.20 (2020 IHSA). Yap and her fellow junior swimmer Maura Fitzgerald competed in the 100 yard backstroke. Fitzgerald placed 11th, and Yap finished in 16th while beating her previous personal best time. 

Finally, seniors Tabitha Torres and Sophie Kash swam their way through the 100 yard breaststroke. Torres made a new personal best, finishing in 1:05.49, which put her in 8th place, while Kash beat her previous PR, finishing in 1:14.17 and in 19th place (2020 IHSA).

Overall, the varsity girls swim team swam great at sectionals, and the seniors finished their final Benet swim season on a great note!

Works Cited

IHSA. “2020 IHSA Girls Sectional – 10/24/2020.” Illinois High School Association, Oct. 2020, www.ihsa.org/data/swg/217802.pdf. Accessed 12 Nov. 2020.