ETHS girls swimming: Gojakovic tops sectional field - Evanston RoundTable

Nov 11, 2024

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Vanya Gojakovic scored a remarkable three-second time drop in the 200-yard individual medley race at last week’s conference swim meet.

But the Evanston sophomore still had plenty left in the tank after starting her end-of-the-season taper this week.

Gojakovic claimed the first individual sectional title for an ETHS female swimmer since 2020 in the 200 IM, and led Evanston’s three relay teams to state qualifying times Saturday at the Highland Park Sectional meet.

Gojakovic and teammates Cameron Corbett (100 butterfly) and Nina Gatchell (100 breaststroke), along with the members of the 200 medley, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams, will advance to the Illinois High School Association state finals at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont next weekend.

Gojakovic earned automatic advancement as a first place finisher, and all of the other qualifiers had to beat existing time standards to keep their seasons alive. Evanston’s last sectional champ was Samantha Rhodes, who won the 500 freestyle back in 2020 but didn’t get to compete in the state finals because the event was canceled due to COVID.

Before that, Erin Long captured sectional crowns in both the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle in 2018.

Gojakovic’s winning time of 2 minutes, 5.50 seconds was the eighth-fastest time posted in statewide sectionals on Saturday and is just off the ETHS school record of 2:04.96 set by Clio Hancock in 2017. She beat runner-up Elyse Newlands of New Trier by more than a full second.

She also contributed a 26.55 backstroke leg on the medley relay, then turned in freestyle splits of 23.79 (200 relay) and 52.92 (400 relay) as all three Wildkit relays scored third-place finishes.

Evanston placed third overall in the team standings with 308 points, behind only New Trier (442) and Loyola Academy (345) in the 13-team field. New Trier, ranked second in the state, ruled all three relay races and also accounted for first-place finishes (and four pool records) in every other event except for the IM and the 500 freestyle.

The fact that the powerhouse Trevians are almost always assigned to the same IHSA sectional as the Wildkits made Gojakovic’s win something special, ETHS head coach Kevin Auger said.

“For Vanya to come back this week and swim even faster was definitely a highlight for us,” Auger said. “It’s significant any time you can win a race at this level, because we’re almost always up against New Trier in the sectional, and don’t forget that she’s only a sophomore.

“Her time last week [2:05.88 at the Central Suburban League South division meet] was the one that was a surprise. Now, we know what she can do — and we’re hoping she can go a little bit faster next week. And that 53 [52.92] in the 400 relay was pretty impressive, too.”

Gojakovic punched her first individual ticket to State after competing for Wildkit relays at the finals a year ago.

“The IM is an interesting event for me to train in, because I can’t tell if I’m going fast or slow during the season,” said the sophomore standout, noting that progress in four different strokes can be difficult to measure via practice sets. “It means a lot to win a sectional like this. To be first against all of these incredible athletes means a lot. There’s always a lot of pressure at a sectional, because this is the one place where you can make it to State. Everyone on our team worked so hard for this, and I trusted my training and the work that I put in.

“I wasn’t much of a freestyler when I came in as a freshman, and I’m really excited by how much I’ve improved there [a full four seconds in the 100],” she said. “That was great for me to see today. That’s a huge milestone for me. And our relays went so fast! I just love swimming with my best friends on those relays.”

The Evanston unit of Gojakovic, Gatchell, Corbett and Annika Wartowski had already eclipsed the IHSA qualifying standard during the season and had no trouble advancing with a third place effort of 1:46.56.

In the 200 freestyle, the team of Gojakovic, Corbett, Wartowski and Tacy Jamison combined for a 1:36.33, and the 400 foursome of Gojakovic, Wartowski, Corbett and Georgia Stoolmaker eased to a season-best time of 3:33.85, almost two seconds under the cut.

Stoolmaker, a junior, replaced Ashlyn Rogowski in the 400 lineup after the conference meet. She bounced back from a disappointing showing in the open 100 (eighth in 54.90) with a faster split of 54.44 with the relay season on the line. “That was big for us,” Auger said.

Corbett, a senior, left no room for doubt on her way to fourth place in the 100 butterfly. Her 57.84 clocking in that race was well under the time standard of 58.38 in a race won by New Trier’s Zara Bolton in 55.29. Corbett had never been under 59 seconds in the fly before Saturday’s race.

Gatchell became the first Kit freshman to reach State in an individual event since Lily Consiglio (butterfly) back in 2018. Her 1:05.88 in the 100 breaststroke claimed fourth place in that race and she’s closing in on the ETHS school mark of 1:04.59 held by Ana Woods.

Evanston’s efforts on Saturday also included several lifetime bests. Highlights among the non-qualifiers who scored top six finishes were provided by diver Una Breen, fifth with a career best 387.15 points for 11 dives; Wartowski, fifth in the 100 freestyle in 53.32; and sophomore Maggie Brennan, sixth in the 100 backstroke in 59.96.

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