FLOSSMOOR | For Marian Catholic senior Katelyn Kresal, she didn't do as well as she had hoped at Saturday's Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional, but she'll still take the trip to next week's state final.
Kresal won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.16 seconds to qualify for next week's state championship at New Trier in Winnetka. Kresal was disappointed with her third-place finish in the 200 freestyle. Her time in the 200 was a 1:57.08, while the state-qualifying time is 1:56.20.
"It didn't go as planned, that's for sure," Kresal said. "We pulled through, and I'm just hoping to do a little better next week. But I'm just happy I made it."
Kresal's younger sister Abby, a Marian Catholic freshman, had a strong showing in her first opportunity to advance to state. Abby Kresal swam a 2:10.19 and took second place in the 200 individual medley. The time was good enough to qualify her for state as a freshman.
"I was trying for the breaststroke, but just missed it," Abby Kresal said of her 100 breaststroke time of 1:08.49. "It's a disappointment, but at least I'm going as a freshman."
The Marian Catholic 200 freestyle relay team, which included both Kresal sisters, came up just short of qualifying for state with a time of 1:40.34. The time was good for second place behind Lincoln-Way East, but the state qualifying time was 1:39.79. Lincoln-Way East captured the sectional team championship while Homewood-Flossmoor took third.
"I think it was a bad day for a lot of people," Katelyn Kresal said. "A lot of people didn't do what they thought they could do, but it worked out."
Homewood-Flossmoor's Rebecca Mathews punched her ticket to next week's state finals with a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.26.
"I felt pretty good today," Mathews said. "Hopefully I do better in the breaststroke next week. It feels good to get back. It would be awesome to place. That's the goal. I'm really proud of my team. We did a good job today."
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