Girls swimming wins Sectionals, advance four competitors to State

Matthew Beigie, Eli Benson, Tyler Chapman and Ethan Scott • Nov 12, 2021

For the second time in school history, the Community girls swimming and diving team won the IHSA Sectional meet on Nov. 6, advancing four swimmers to the IHSA State meet in four events.

Kenna Malinowski (9), Nina Osborne (11), Meghan Kilcoin (11), and Larissa Harr (12) will race at Friday, Nov. 12’s State competition in Westmont.

Community finished Sectionals with a team score of 269 points, 43 points ahead of second-place U-High, winning the competition for the first time since 2017.

The 2017 team, Coach Heather Budak said, had one of the best swimmers in the state in Grace Ariola leading the team. This year, Community won their Sectional without a state-ranked swimmer on the team.

“If you looked at the heat sheet going into the Sectional, we weren’t favored to win,” Budak said. “We ended up winning by almost 40 points. So it was a really great team effort that they had.”

The team of Malinowski, Osborne, Kilcoin, and Harr took first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.04, with the first-place finish automatically advancing the relay to State.

Individually, Malinowski won the 50-yard freestyle and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, earning a trip to State in both events.

Malinowski finished the 50 freestyle in 24.32 seconds, 0.98 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Malinowski’s 100 freestyle time of 52.46, .2 seconds behind U-High’s Olivia Haerr, qualified her for the State meet based on time. Malinowski finished .4 seconds under the qualifying benchmark.

Also qualifying as an individual was junior Nina Osborne. Osborne won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:10.06.

Budak, Sectional Coach of the Year, attributes the team’s success at Sectionals to their accomplishments throughout the season.

“Knowing that they had beat West, [won] Intercity, and the Big 12,” Budak said, “really gave them momentum.”

The team finished in the top five in every meet this season, including the competitive United Township and Richwood invites.

“It’s hard to know what’s going to happen at the State meet,” Budak said, because swimming is a single class sport, and “we haven’t seen all of those swimmers we don’t know we don’t get films.”

Heading into State, the team’s only goal: swim as fast or faster than they did last weekend.

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About the Contributors

Matthew Beigie, Staff Writer

Matthew Beigie is a junior at Normal Community High School and is involved in the school orchestra. This is his first year working with the Inkspot, and he is a staff writer. On the weekends I enjoy hanging out with friends and playing basketball. I am interested in discovering different types of music. In my free time, I watch movies and listen to music.

Eli Benson, Staff Reporter

Eli Benson is senior at Normal Community High School and is involved in Varsity basketball, Senior Class Board, Social Studies club, and Internship Program. This is his first year with the Inkspot and he is a staff writer. My favorite film of all time is “Shawshank Redemption.” On the weekends I enjoy hanging out with my friends and working my part-time job.

Tyler Chapman, Senior Staff Reporter

Tyler Chapman is a senior at Normal Community High School and is a member of the soccer, cross country, and track & field teams. This is their second year working with the Inkspot as a senior staff reporter. My all-time dream is to wake up on top of a mountain and watch the sunrise. A slogan I like to live by is "can't" is a state of mind. In my free time, I like to play disc golf with my dad.

Ethan Scott, Staff Writer

Ethan Scott is a senior at NCHS, where he participates in theatre. This is his first year as a member of the Inkspot staff. In my free time, I like to watch football and baseball. My dream is to become a beat writer for the Packers. I hope to study sports journalism in college.