Southland area swimmers ready for state

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:04PM

When Mother McAuley diver Erika Murphy steps onto the platform Friday at the state meet, nerves won't be as big an issue as one might guess.

After all, she already has a year of state experience under her belt, and in her career she's battled through persistent foot problems and, two years ago, a torn ACL in her right knee.

"I'm still a little nervous, but definitely more confident than last year," Murphy said Tuesday after practice at Brother Rice. "It's intimidating to walk in there (at state), but it's just like any other meet. It's important not to pay attention to the things around you and just focus on your own dives."

A gymnast growing up, Murphy turned to diving upon arriving at McAuley as a freshman.

Hampered by a cyst on her foot and the ACL tear she suffered playing basketball, Murphy was forced to go through physical therapy to rehab the knee.

"The physical therapy was hard, but once it was strong enough it hasn't really bothered me that much," Murphy said. "The doctors said anywhere from four to six months (rehab), but I was back doing simple dives in three months with a brace."

Finally healthy for her junior season, Murphy made the most of it. She qualified for state, ultimately finishing in 37th place and scoring 142.75 points over 11 dives.

"She came in here her junior season and was all about the diving," McAuley diving coach Celeste Faber said. "She was diving up at Northwestern with a club team, diving in the offseason, and that's what really helped. She was committed, and she has such a great mind about how to execute her dives."

Building off the state experience, Murphy improved through her senior campaign, winning the Downers Grove Sectional to earn an automatic berth at the state meet.

This time around, she will have some company on the diving board as teammate Meghan Dragel qualified with an at-large berth.

"It was actually a really big surprise," Dragel said. "My teammates really supported me. It was a great experience at sectionals."

The sophomore won't be heading into Friday's prelims blind, having gone to last year's state meet to support Murphy.

Regardless of the amount of experience her two divers have, Faber just wants her duo to stay calm, cool and collected.

"I try to put absolutely no expectations on my divers," Faber said. "The key is execution. They've been doing these dives all year.

They need to be confident in themselves and know they can do the dives, get up there and be positive."

Other divers from the Southland competing Friday will be Lincoln-Way West's Kaitlyn Neiheisel and Alexis Skiniotes, and Lincoln-Way East's Kyleigh Seibert and Mimi Michuda.

In the overall team standings, Lincoln-Way East, Lincoln-Way North and Sandburg all will be looking to do damage.

Mary Reilly and Taylor Jach lead eight swimmers and three relays for the Griffins. Cheyenne DeGraff is seeded in the top 10 for both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 breaststroke for North. Sandburg advanced all three of its relay teams, with Tara Capouch qualifying in two individual events.

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