By Elaine Gu
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Monday, Nov. 13, 2006, The OG, sports

CHAMPAIGN — The Uni High Stingrays wrapped up their season Saturday with a sixth-place finish at the 18-team IHSA sectional meet at Centennial's Unit 4 Pool. Although no Uni swimmers advanced to state, a majority of the girls turned in personal-best or seasonal-best performances.

“Sectional was great,” said head coach Howard Schein. “[Out of the 12 swimmers who competed] nine had at least one best time, and some had two. That's what we hope for.”

The Stingrays scored 62 points, right behind fifth-place Danville Schlarman (99). Centennial and Champaign Central easily distanced themselves from the rest of the field and took first and second place with 252 and 248 points, respectively. Urbana followed in third with 155 points.

In the 200-yard individual medley, senior Nicole Gong finished ninth with a time of 2 minutes, 34.93 seconds. Senior Anne Dixon also took ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.92), followed closely by 10th-place finisher freshman Erika Belmont (1:18.36). Both Dixon and Belmont swam personal-best times.

Junior Katie Ryan swam a seasonal-best time of 2:13.07 in the 200 freestyle, earning 10th place. Fellow junior Aliisa Rantanen finished 16th in 2:29.15, only .05 seconds off her personal record set last week at the Normal U-High Invite.

Both the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay of Gong, Ryan, Dixon, and senior Liz Reese medaled by finishing in the top six. The 400 freestyle relay of Belmont, Rantanen, senior Krista Olson, and freshman Elizabeth Allen placed eighth with a seasonal-best time of 4:21.54.

Even with Dixon, Gong, Olson, and Liz Reese graduating, Schein believes the team will be just as strong next year.

“We have a dynamite first-year class who I think will be able to quickly step into the seniors' shoes,” he said. “The non-first years are also making steady progress, and they are ready to step into the leadership position that the seniors are vacating.”

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 Unit 4 Pool (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 Unit 4 Pool (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), no winning team

Oct. 17: at Champaign Centennial Unit 4 Pool (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)

Nov. 4: at Illinois State University (Normal University High Invite, 9 teams), 4th place (164 pts)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Erika Belmont, Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 3rd (2:06.61)
— Anne Dixon, Nicole Gong, Liz Reese, Katie Ryan, 200 free, 3rd (1:53.34)

Nov. 11: at Champaign Centennial Unit 4 Pool (IHSA Sectional Meet, 18 teams), 6th place (62 pts)
Top Uni individual swimmers:
— Anne Dixon, 100 breast, 9th (1:16.92)

— Nicole Gong, 200 IM, 9th (2:34.93)
Top Uni relay swimmers:
— Nicole Gong, Katie Ryan, Anne Dixon, Liz Reese, 200 medley, 6th, medal (2:05.25)
— Nicole Gong, Katie Ryan, Anne Dixon, Liz Reese, 200 free, 6th, medal (1:51.06)