For her Riverside Brookfield High School girls swimming finale, senior Maria Ellis made an exception. After all, Ellis was competing at the state meet for the first time.
“Usually I don’t like it when people come to watch me. I get very nervous,” Ellis said. “I was like, ‘You know what? It’s my last year. It’s the state meet. I kind of want people to watch me.’ And my friends said they were coming no matter what.”
Ellis went out with another strong performance as she finished 27th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.67) during Friday’s preliminaries at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont. Her huge personal-best 1:05.92 at the Hinsdale Central Sectional earned the state berth.
An unofficial count of 31 people – family, swim teammates and friends – witnessed Ellis’ second-fastest time ever, again under the 1:07.25 state-qualifying standard.
“I wish I had swam a little bit better, but I can’t be mad with how I did. I still swam my second fastest time ever,” she said.
Ellis had only attended state once as a freshman to briefly watch 2025 RBHS graduate and multiple all-state Hailey Vlcek. Despite being the Bulldogs’ lone competitor, Ellis could sit with teammates from the Bullets Swim Club who competed for third-place Rosary.
“It was definitely harder not having my team on deck,” Ellis said. “The atmosphere, it was super-fun. Usually during club and high school dual meets, there’s not a lot of cheering going on so it was fun seeing the place get super-loud for every swim. That was awesome.”
Ellis especially was grateful considering that she unknowingly competed most of the season with mononucleosis. After feeling sick and sluggish in mid-October, she was tested and diagnosed. She sat out the Oct. 25 Upstate Eight Conference Meet.
“To this day, I still can’t wrap my head around how I managed to have such a great season even with mono,” Ellis said. “When I was perfectly healthy and everything’s OK, I wasn’t going those times so I was shocked.”
Nazareth diving
At sectionals, Nazareth Academy junior diver Ellie Fleischmann was concerned about just returning to the state meet. At state, Fleischmann became only the Roadrunners’ second state finalist and earned all-state honors with 12th place (438.55 points) Saturday.
Nazareth diver Eva Kelly was fourth in 2018 and seventh in 2017.
Fleischmann scored 436.00 at sectionals. She progressed from 32nd at state in 2024 (198.45 for 5 dives) behind another year of club training with renowned coach Caiming Xie at the FMC Natatorium and Illinois Chicago.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of effort, going to practices five or six days a week. Also just having a good atmosphere and being friends with all of my teammates [at club] helps,” Fleischmann said. “Whenever I have a lot of friends or more fun at my meets, my performance is better.”
Fleischmann made the 16-diver finals with the 10th-highest score after eight dives (331.45). She gained support Saturday mostly from club teammate and St. Ignatius junior Caitlin Seder, who finished fifth.
“With Ignatius, they always make me feel like I’m part of their team,” Fleischmann said. “I feel like we’re all pretty close. All of the competing divers [Saturday] went to breakfast as we waited for the swimmers. It’s not really that competitive.”
Fenwick swimming
Fenwick sophomore Sam Stowe made the most of her second state trip with the 200 freestyle relay. The Brookfield resident was part of the 19th-place lineup Friday with sophomore Audrey Munley, junior Maeve Ryan and senior Claire Wood (season-best 1:36.82) and contributed a lifetime-best 24.71 split.
“I was a little disappointed because I felt I could have done better, but it was still the fastest I’ve gone, so I’m OK with it,” Stowe said. “I’ve gotten a little better. It’s been a rough season for me but I’m proud of where I ended up.”
Stowe swam the second leg after swimming the opening leg at 2024 state. That 200 free relay (29th in 1:39.15) also included Munley and Ryan.
“It was fun to be in the same relay with most of the same girls,” Stowe said. “It’s kind of been a rough season for us but we’ve really stuck together. It’s just been fun to do it with our best friends.”
