IN THE SPOTLIGHT
New Trier’s Jessie Creed (right) and Katie Lipsey went 1-2 in diving at the state meet. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
Earlier this month, in a New Trier girls diving practice, Jessie Creed did not enter the water head-first on a dive.
Nor feet-first.
The junior’s back struck the water before any other body part did.
“Landed flat on my back,” Creed, wincing slightly, recalled last weekend.
“My coach [Bruce Kimball] told me, ‘That dive would’ve won a smack contest.’ ”
Creed won something else on Nov. 18 — a state diving title, her second straight, and she did it in the home natatorium with a score of 479.1 points. Only five other divers — led by Deerfield High School graduate and former USA Olympian Christina Loukas (507.55, in 2003) — had finished with a higher total at a state meet.
Right behind Creed, in the final standings last weekend, was Katie Lipsey, another witness at that practice with the rare Creed smackdown. Lipsey, a New Trier sophomore, finished runner-up (436.5), a year after placing 12th at her first state meet.
“Bruce is a very good coach, and Jessie helps me, too,” Lipsey said. “Jessie is good at giving me pep talks. She gave me a longer one today [before the start of the state finals diving session, on Nov. 18].”
Creed (338.95 points) and Lipsey (321.5) had also finished 1-2 in the state prelims [first eight of 11 dives] on Nov. 17. Creed nailed her first dive (ninth overall) on the next day, earning an 8.5 from one a judge and an 8 from a pair of judges for her reverse dive pike. Lipsey solidified her position in the standings with her 10th plunge (back somersault with 1.5 twists), garnering marks ranging from 5.5 to 7.5 for a dive with a 2.3 degree of difficulty.
“Katie,” Creed said, “is always positive, always happy. She’s hilarious, too. Sometimes she’ll just start … singing. She makes me want to sing when I’m around her.
“The pep talk I gave her today was as much for her as it was for me — I felt a little nervous, and the talk calmed me down. We said, together, ‘I can, and I will. We can do this. It’ll be incredible.’ ”
Creed’s swimming teammates, many of them holding small posters with “10” written on them, erupted with cheers from their on-deck bleacher seats as soon as Creed completed her final dive, a forward 2.5 somersault tuck (2.4 degree of difficulty).
Nothing but 8s and 7s from the judges.
None of the other finalists would be able to outdo Creed.
“I’m not surprised,” Kimball said of NT’s 1-2 finish in diving, which put the Trevians in second place (49) behind eventual state champion Rosary (76) after five events. “They were both prepared for the moment. Both proved capable of meeting the challenges that come with a big meet like this. Jessie is physically stronger this year, and she’s jumping higher. Katie was unflappable all weekend. She’s quick, so quick, and powerful for her [slight] size.”
The collective effort from Creed and Lipsey off the boards was worth 29 team points. It energized NT’s swimmers, particularly sophomore Joelle Ohr, who had advanced to the state finals (Saturday’s session) in the 100-yard freestyle and as a member of all three relays. Ohr won the consolation heat in the 100 free (seventh place overall, 51.42) and helped the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays take fifth (1:44.34), seventh (1:35.34) and fourth (3:26.76), respectively.
“We really got into it while watching our divers,” Ohr said. “It made all of us want to get points for our team throughout the rest of the meet.
“I swim better when I know it’s for the team.”
Each finalist received a bouquet of flowers during the awarding of medals after each event. None other than senior Pierson Ohr, Joelle’s older brother and a member of NT’s boys swimming team, presented flowers to Joelle after the 100 free.
And in a fun moment on deck, shortly after the presentation of medals and flowers following the 400 free relay, Joelle Ohr, holding another bouquet of flowers with two hands, turned her back to 400-free relay mate and classmate Audrey Richardson and tossed the arrangement, similar to what a bride does with a different item at a wedding reception.
Richardson caught the bouquet.
“Joelle is a really fierce competitor, with toughness,” Trevians swimming coach Mac Guy said. “I’m really proud of her, with the way she dropped times, from the middle of the season to the [Central Suburban League South] meet to the sectional meet to the state meet. What she did today, moving from eighth [prelims time of 51.16] to seventh in the 100 free, took a lot of guts. It’s hard to swim well at a meet like this, because everybody is tired.
“Our team showed a lot of courage. I’m really proud of everybody’s efforts. This group, a young one, grew so much during the season and showed a great approach to training and competing.”
Guy’s group ended up in fifth place (94 points), matching his 2016 crew’s state finish. Rosary’s Beads (169) won their third straight state championship in dominant fashion, finishing well head of runner-up Oswego co-op (138.5). St. Charles North (108) and Normal Community High School (104) went 3-4.
Ohr anchored the 200 medley and 400 free relays and swam the lead-off leg for the 200 free unit. Senior Vivian Wu, junior Kasey Venn and Richardson swam the first three legs of the medley relay; sophomore Emma Eldring and seniors Olivia Lantry and Sophia Girgenti followed Ohr in the 200 free relay; and Richardson, Wu and Girgenti preceded Ohr in the final relay.
“Nobody on our team is selfish,” Ohr said. “The only thing Sophia cared about [in the 400 free relay] was swimming her leg of it as fast as she could in order to make it easier for me.”
Venn also contributed an 11th-place showing in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.65.
Notable: New Trier sophomore teammates Sela Cornell and Alex Brander each competed in the four Class B events for athletes with disabilities at the state swimming and diving meet in the home water last weekend. Cornell finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:31.58), third in the 50 free (30.52) and fifth in each of the 200 free (2:37.44) and 100 free (1:10.73) events on Nov. 18. She dropped more than 13 seconds off her seed time (2:50.13) in the 200 free. Brander’s best finish (sixth place) came in the 100 breaststroke (2:25.97), and her biggest time drop came in the 100 free (ninth place, 1:55.39 — nearly six seconds faster than her seed time).
New Trier’s Jessie Creed. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
New Trier’s Katie Lipsey. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
New Trier’s Sophia Girgenti, in the pool, is congratulated by teammate Joelle Ohr after the Trevians place seventh in the 200 freestyle relay. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
Kasey Venn of the Trevians gets off the blocks in the 100 breaststroke. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
Vivian Wu of the Trevians leads off the 200 medley relay. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
NT’s Audrey Richardson churns in the butterfly portion of the 200 medley relay. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER