By Elaine Gu
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006, The OG, sports

DANVILLE — The girls swim team finished in second place in a tri-meet held Saturday at the Danville YMCA.

O'Fallon won the meet with 127 points, followed by Uni (95) and Schlarman (75). This is a big improvement over Uni's third-place finish at this meet last year, when the team scored 74 points.

The Stingrays dominated the 100-yard breaststroke, with senior Anne Dixon and freshman Erika Belmont taking first and second place with times of 1 minute, 17.81 seconds and 1:20.39, respectively. The Stingrays were also strong in the 50 freestyle, with senior Liz Reese placing second (27.93) and Dixon placing third (28.75).

Other third-place finishes from Uni were Reese in the 100 freestyle (1:01.34), freshman Maritza Mestre in the 100 backstroke (1:17.84), and senior Nicole Gong in the 200 individual medley (2:35.88).

Junior Katie Ryan finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:16.46.

The 200 medley relay of Belmont, Dixon, Gong, and Reese and the 200 freestyle relay of Dixon, Gong, Reese, and Ryan both finished second with times of 2:07.13 and 1:52.24, respectively.

The time for the 200 free was a new season best, a fraction of a second faster than the 1:52.28 turned in by the same swimmers Oct. 7 at the Central Invite.

Dixon and Gong were the leading scorers, both earning 11 points for Uni. Reese contributed nine points, and Ryan scored seven.

“This was also Senior Day,” said Ryan. “The juniors gave a speech about how great the seniors are and how much we'll miss them.”

The Stingrays will swim their last regular-season meet Saturday at the Normal University High Invite at Illinois State University. IHSA sectionals will be held Nov. 11 at Centennial's Unit 4 Pool.

2006 VARSITY RESULTS (2-0 in dual meets)

Sept. 2: at Stanford Olympia (vs. Stanford Olympia), W 128-38
Top Uni individual swimmers:

— Liz Reese, 50 free, 1st (:28.56)
— Katie Ryan, 100 free, 1st (1:02.62); 200 free, 1st (2:18.16)
— Deborah Ladd, 500 free, 1st (7:15.34)
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 1st (1:19.67)
— Nicole Gong, 100 fly, 1st (1:10.59); 200 IM, 1st (2:43.97)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Katie Ryan, 200 free, 1st (1:57.64)
— Anne Dixon, Krista Olson, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 1st (2:13.19)
— Eunice How, Krista Olson, Katie Ryan, Aliisa Rantanen, 400 free, 1st (4:45.36)

Sept. 9: at the University of Chicago (vs. Chicago University High), W 87-81
Top Uni individual swimmers:

— Liz Reese, 50 free, 1st (:27.93)
— Katie Ryan, 200 free, 1st (2:15.84)
— Liz Reese, 500 free, 1st (6:16.12)
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 1st (1:17.62)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Katie Ryan, Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 free, 1st (1:56.11)
— Anne Dixon, Krista Olson, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 1st (2:11.89)

Sept. 16: at Champaign Centennial (Charger Invitational, 15 teams), 14th place (11 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmer:
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 1 pt (1:17.92)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Katie Ryan, Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 8 pts (2:07.06)
— Elizabeth Allen, Maritza Mestre, Aliisa Rantanen, Erika Belmont, 200 free, 2 pts (2:02.38)

Sept. 23: at Eastern Illinois University (Charleston tri-meet), 2nd place (110 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmers:
— Liz Reese, 14 pts overall
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 1st (1:19.57), 12 pts
— Katie Ryan, 10 pts

— Nicole Gong, 9 pts
— Krista Olson, 9 pts

Sept. 26: at Danville High School (Danville tri-meet), 3rd place (79 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmers:
— Katie Ryan, 500 free, 2nd (6:10.75), 9 pts overall
— Anne Dixon, 6 pts
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Erika Belmont, Nicole Gong, Anne Dixon, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 2nd (2:10.58)
— Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Anne Dixon, Katie Ryan, 200 free, 3rd (1:54.58)

Sept. 30: at Danville High School (Danville quad meet), 3rd place (306 points)
Top Uni individual swimmers:
— Nicole Gong, 100 fly, 3rd (1:08.19); 200 IM, 3rd (2:37.69)
— Katie Ryan, 200 free, 3rd (2:17.06)
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 4th (1:18.48)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Katie Ryan, 200 free, 2nd (1:54.27)

Oct. 7: at Champaign Centennial (Central Invitational, 5 teams), 4th place (145.5 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmer:
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 5th (1:18.5)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Katie Ryan, Erika Belmont, Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, 200 medley (2:06.4 — season best)
— Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Anne Dixon, Katie Ryan, 200 free (1:52.28 — season best)
— Krista Olson, Elizabeth Allen, Aliisa Rantanen, Liz Reese, 400 free (4:22.25 — season best)

Oct. 14: at Danville (Schlarman pentathlon), results to be posted

Oct. 17: at Champaign Centennial (Twin City Meet, 4 teams), 4th place (208 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmer:
— Nicole Gong, 100 butterfly, 5th (1:07.09)

Oct. 28: at Danville YMCA (Schlarman tri-meet), 2nd place (95 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmers:
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 1st (1:17.81); 50 free, 3rd (28.75); 11 pts overall
— Nicole Gong, 200 IM, 3rd (2:35.88); 11 pts overall
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Erika Belmont, Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 2nd (2:07.13)
— Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Katie Ryan, 200 free, 2nd (1:52.24 — new season best)