Rochelle Township High School will be sending two swimmers to the IHSA State Championships for the second consecutive year.
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BYRON — Rochelle Township High School will be sending two swimmers to the IHSA State Championships for the second consecutive year.
Three Lady Hubs including seniors Aubrey Headon, Abby Wagner and sophomore Allison Cole represented Rochelle in the IHSA Sectional at Byron High School on Saturday. Both Headon and Cole qualified for the state meet in the athletes with disabilities division this past year, and the girls will once again compete for Rochelle in the state championships this year.
Headon finished first in four races on Saturday including the 50-yard freestyle (59.54 seconds), the 100-yard freestyle (2:13.78), the 200-yard freestyle (4:18.38) and the 100-yard breaststroke (3:23.81). The IHSA State Championships will begin in Evanston on Nov. 16 and conclude on Nov. 17.
“I’m extremely excited that I get to participate in the state championships my senior year,” Headon said. “I swam extremely well in all four of my events. I wasn’t as nervous as I was my first year, and I knew I just had to swim my race and be prepared for anything. It’s nice to have a teammate when you’re the only individual swimmer in a pool full of teams.”
Cole qualified by placing second in two races including the 50-yard freestyle (1:19.66) and the 100-yard freestyle (3:06.29). Headon will be participating in the state championships for her third straight year, while Cole will make the trip for the second time in her high school swimming career.
“I’m very excited, proud and honored to represent RTHS,” Cole said. “I did pretty well but I can do better at state. I know that there are girls who are probably better swimmers than I am. I try to keep up with [Aubrey] because she’s good to race with. She sets a good pace for me.”
Wagner raced in both the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday. The senior placed 20th in the breaststroke with a time of 47.89 seconds while taking 22nd in the freestyle race with a time of 1:12.38. Wagner started swimming with the DeKalb County team when she was 5 years old before joining the Rochelle Rays, and she said she will miss competing and hanging out with her Rochelle teammates.
“I feel like I had a solid performance this weekend despite not having been in the pool as long as I would have liked due to an extended cross country season,” Wagner said. “I enjoy hanging out with my teammates at practices and at meets. I also enjoy competing and trying to improve my times… I will miss the daily discipline of practices and staying in shape.”
