Deerfield swimmer Ruby Powell ended her high school career on a strong note by finishing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke and 10th in the 50-yard freestyle to score all 12 of her team’s points in the IHSA state championship meet in Evanston over the weekend.
Loyola Academy was the big winner, taking the state title with 148 points. Downers Grove South and Rosary High School in Aurora tied for second with 118 points, while Lake Forest finished in fourth with 114 points. Deerfield placed 29th overall, while New Trier, who won last year’s state championship, finished 11th overall with 43 points.
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Loyola Academy won only the final event of the meet — the 400-yard freestyle relay — but the Ramblers were in the finals of all three relays and had several individuals on the podium, including senior Grace Tierney, who finished second in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle. Barrington junior Kristen Jacobsen was the star of the meet as she defended her state titles in both the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle.
Also competing for Deerfield was sophomore diver Lindsay Guare, who finished 16th in the preliminary competition on Friday with 265.25 points, about 15 points shy of cracking the top 12, which would have put her in the finals on Saturday.
Highland Park High School had two qualifiers in the diving competition. Both junior Avery Spitz and senior Erin Cullather competed in the preliminaries in Friday, with Spitz finishing 37th with 147 points and Cullather finishing 39th with 144 points.
Deerfield also qualified for the 200-yard freestyle relay, with a team of Powell, freshman Lily Kurzydlo, and juniors Aana Tsakiris and Lauren Kurzydlo. They swam a 1:37.63 on Friday, which was good enough for 21st place, but not fast enough to get them into the finals on Saturday.
This was the final high school meet for Powell, who signed a letter of intent last week to attend Texas Christian University next fall. Her high school coach, John Sullivan, has watched her grow in four years to the level of a Division I swimmer.
“I think she’ll do very well (at TCU),” Sullivan said. “She’s a leader on this team, and she always comes through on the big meets … we’ve been lucky to have her here.”