Elgin Blue Wave

This years Illinois State Meet was held April 7 through April 10. Coach Corinne and the Elgin Blue Waves placed third in a field of 43 teams - behind only Evanston and Naperville. Fifty two Blue Wave swimmers scored a total of 1660.5 points. Krista Cimilluca and Ben Culver took the high point trophies in their age groups.

In the 1650 freestyle, Jen Harrison proved she is as dangerous in the pool as she is in open water, taking first in her age group. Drew Scheidenhelm and Ben Culver also grabbed firsts in this event. Twenty-six other Blue Wave swimmers competed in this event. This strong showing had Elgin in first place going in to Saturday.

The fast swims kept coming with speed merchants Richard Fox and Jack Eggar going 1-2 in the M55-59 50 Fly. Nancy Esterling and Beth Laponte also went 1-2 in the 200 Breastroke. Later Jill Schneeberger, Aileen Vogel, Jim Campana and Jack Eggar teamed up for a first in the 200 Mixed Medley Relay. Elgin fielded a total of ten relay teams in this event. Adding to the gold medal count were Ken Meyer in the 100 back, Jim Campana and Nancy E in the 50 Breast, Jennie Quill and Ben in the 200 Fly, Jen Harrison and Ben in the 500 free.  Ben's 1:59.9 200 fly and 4:50.4 500 Free must have made steam rise from the pool. In the 200 free relay Campana, Fox, Meyer, and Eggar were unbeatable, as were the team of Cheryl Atkins, Barb Erni, Krista Camilluca and Jen H.

Sunday started with the  grueling 400 IM. Ben continued his streak with a smoking 4:17.6 and Tom Maude also struck gold here, Kudos to Drew and Oz for scoring silver and to Cheryl Atkins, Melissa Koziol, Dori Browne, James Evans, Mark Schaark, Bruce Woerner, Ed Marsh, and Lex Peques for strong swims adding to the Blue Wave team total. Beth Laponte and Jim C added gold in the 100 Breast, as did Mike Leavitt in the 50 back. Krista C added to her medal count by winning the 200 Free. Jennie Q's 200 Fly, and Ken Meyer's 100 IM were also golden. Ken Meyer, Jim C, Rich Fox, and Jack Eggar teamed up again for 200 Medley gold.

While this gold medal count is impressive, it doesn't begin to tell the true story of the meet. Look through the results and you will see some names so many times it seems like they are in every race! Sometimes finishing second, fourth, or eighth but with a great swim and a personal best time is better than gold. Talk to your teammates and hear their favorite stories from the state meet.

Congratulations to all the Blue Wave State Team Swimmers!

   . Click here for State Meet Results on the Libertyville Masters Site .

State Team Roster:

Rod Adams , Steven Andreeff ,Cheryl Atkins ,Adam R Brown , Paul P Brown ,Dori E Browne ,James L Campana , Krista Cimilluca ,Ben B Culver ,Jack D Eggar , Barbara Erni , Nancy Esterling ,James D Evans ,Jaynie L Falduto ,Richard E Fox , Jaime D Garcia ,Michael Garipay ,Jessica N Gray , Corinne L Grotenhuis , Jennifer Harrison ,Karen F Hollander , Stacie A Jackson-McGarr ,Rebecca Jensen , Curt D Keller , Melissa Kozial , Cindy S Kracen ,Emily B Krauklis , Anne N Lafayette ,Mark G Landrowski ,Elizabeth Laponte ,Michael Leavitt , Edward T Marsh , Sarah Mastalski , Tom Maude , Kenneth G Meyer , Oz Osborne ,Lex Pegues , Catherine J Quill ,Mark D Schark ,Drew E Scheidenhelm ,Tammy J Schlau , Jill A Schneeberger ,Ron Searle , Amanda L Stiberth , Chrisy Tang ,Mia Taormina , Kerric Tratt ,Christine N Tredup ,Aileen E Vogel ,Bruce Woerner , Annie Wysock , Adam J Zolmierski ,Jessica R Zolmierski ,Louie Caffero , Steve Dahik , Steven H Gordon ,Marc A Jackson ,Kevin Lue , Maureen Lue , Tom C Rueger and David Watts