Warriors feel weak, look strong

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McHENRY – In the middle of every swimming season comes an inescapable lull in which swimmers find their times a little slower and their bodies a little weaker.

But as much as swimmers would not like to say it, the down time serves as a reminder that it’s not about to get any easier.

“There’s always a midseason funk,” McHenry senior Courtney Matthys said after the Warriors defeated Cary-Grove on Thursday, 124-45. “But you can’t let it stop you from giving your best.

“You have to work through it and hopefully you’ll start improving with each time out.”

Matthys won two events, including the 200-yard individual medley in 2:20.48 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.03.

Matthys also was a part of the winning teams from the 200 medley relay (Sydney Trost, Matthys, Courtney Naughton, Samantha Gorman) and the 200 free relay (Matthys, Naughton, Casey Meszaros, Tiffany McCoy).

“I’m not proud of my times, but I will take the place [of finish],” Matthys said. “Hopefully, I can get some time drops at the upcoming meets, conference tournament and so on.”

“But right now, the main emphasis is for the team to win conference above reaching any individual goals.”

The Warriors won the meet by placing first in 10 of 11 events, including every medley relay.

“We haven’t been swimming our very best lately, but we did a little better today,” McHenry coach Mike Shanahan said. “Our times may be indicative of the time of season, but we are hanging in there.

“We have our spirits high for the next four weeks, and hopefully we can stay away from injury and sickness.”

C-G’s Courtney Mega won the 100 backstroke in 1:05.02, the Trojans’ only victory.

“Although we didn’t come out on top in a lot of the events, we had a great showing,” Trojans coach Caitlin Sullivan said. “There was some strong swimming from a number of girls.

“For a small team, we still expect to be competitive in conference and place in the top three teams.”

Also for the Trojans, Lauren Curtis placed second in the 200 free and third in the 100 fly, Molly English placed third in the 50 free and Brianna Musielak placed third in the 100 breaststroke.

The team of Mega, Curtis, English and Musielak placed second in the 200 medley relay in 2:03.48.