State newcomers lift New Trier to unforeseen fourth-place finish

The bus ride home from the state championships likely sounded different this year for New Trier girls swimming and diving.

From the deck of the FMC Natatorium on Saturday, Nov. 15, Trevians head coach Mac Guy was looking forward to it.

“It’s kind of fun when (we) can walk away being happy with what we have done, but with such a new group, also not being satisfied with where we needed to be,” he said. “It is nice fuel to talk about on the bus ride home.”

Following five straight top-two team finishes in the IHSA finals, a junior-heavy New Trier (185 team points) finished fourth after the 12 events on Saturday in Westmont, coming in behind Stevenson (236), St. Charles North (227) and Rosary (the winners in 2023 and ’24; 211). Hinsdale Central (141) rounded out the top five.

It was the fifth straight top-five finish for the Trevians, who own 16 state championships and 15 more runnerup trophies.

A year ago, a senior-heavy New Trier team pushed Rosary to the brink while also setting five program records. Only two state-finals qualifiers remained for the Trevians, which ranked 10th in at least one preseason poll, according to Guy.

Guy praised his team for taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them and besting those predictions.

“Honestly it’s amazing,” he said. “… To be where we are at today is a testament to a lot of girls who have no state meet experience stepping up and doing something they’ve never done before. And for the girls who did have some experience, they just blew it out of the water. They did great.” 

On the season’s final day, 11 Trevians’ entries earned top-10 finishes, led by the all-junior 200-yard freestyle relay group (Olivia Musick, Margaret Lietzau, Stella Tomlinson, Sylvia Deliduka) that placed third.

Musick added a seventh place in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 backstroke; Deliduka was seventh in the 200 free and seventh in the 100 free; and Lietzau was eighth in the 200 free and ninth (winning her heat) in the 500 free.

Sophomore Riley McNeal placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and teamed with Musick, senior Ryan Vender and Tomlinson for fifth in the 200 medley relay. Junior June Dichtel was sixth in the 100 breaststroke and 13th in the 500 free. Freshman Avery Musick also made the finals and finished 16th in the 100 backstroke.

Lietzau, Vender, Musick and Deliduka combined for a sixth-place performance in the 400 free relay to finish the meet.

Guy said the state-level competition will pay off as his swimmers develop even further and look to vault themselves and New Trier up the leaderboard.

“It’s really up to the girls … taking stock where they’re at now and seeing what’s necessary to taking the next step, from making a (heat) final to really competing for state championship or top three,” he said. “And then also finding so many teammates who are right on the cusp of being great and taking them with.”

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