Neuqua Valley earned more than win

It was truly an historic touch by Neuqua Valley sophomore Maggie Maxstadt.

When Maxstadt finished ahead of the field in the final leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, she gave the Wildcats the Upstate Eight Conference Championship 280 to 276 points over St. Charles North on Saturday.

The win brought Neuqua Valley its 100th conference athletic championship since the school opened in 1997.

"We knew that if we won that relay, we would win the meet," Neuqua coach Mac Guy said. "We were going back and forth with St. Charles North all day for the lead in the team standings, and it all came down to that race."

The 400 free relay team, which nosed out St. Charles East by .06 of a second, consisted of Courtney Taylor, Lauren Pierce, Amanda Childs and Maxstadt.

St. Charles North finished third in that event.

Maxstadt anchored the two winning freestyle relays and she also took home the team's one individual gold medal by winning the 50 freestyle.

"The biggest accomplishment for the team is that we got all three relays under the state cut," Guy said. "That was a confidence booster."

The Wildcats also had several second-place medal winners including diver Lauren Mikulecky, Amanda Childs in the 500 freestyle and Brooke Bedford in the 100 butterfly.

Guy was pleased that his team could provide the school with its landmark conference title.

"It's neat to take part in what is becoming a rich athletic tradition in terms of competing at a high level," he said. "It was the cherry on top for what was for us a very exciting win and a breakthrough meet."

Naperville North won the DuPage Valley Conference girls swimming and diving championship for the second year in a row.

The Huskies finished ahead of second-place Naperville Central 260-211 by taking the gold in six events including the 200 medley 400 freestyle relays.

Jennifer Law, who swam on both winning relays teams, also finished first in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. Caroline Chang won the 100 breaststroke and Amy Novak won the 50 freestyle.

Besides Law, the medley relay team consisted of Chang, Anna Williams and Novak, while Lexi Nash, Emma Williams, Novak and Law made up the winning 400 freestyle lineup.

"Those girls in our winning varsity events weren't rested for the meet," Naperville North coach Kate Toennis said. "They're at the peak of exhaustion and to go out and compete the way they did was an indication how they can race."

Toennis is hoping that all three relays can qualify for state and then score by finishing in the top 12.

She also sees Law as a possible scorer in the 100 butterfly.

Chang in the 100 breaststroke, Emma Willaims in the 100 butterfly and Novak in the 50 freestyle are others with state scoring potential.

Freshman Molly Schatz of Naperville Central won the diving title, and Paige Bloodgood of Naperville North was second.