Girls swimming and diving started off their 2013 season with a splash, despite the fact that they still had to travel back and forth from West and other various locations in search of practice space.

The good news is that the Niles North aquatics center opened on Sep. 17, so the Viking swimmers will have a pool to call home once again.

The Niles North swimming and diving team is at an all time high this season, and the coaches and swimmers alike are excited to showcase their new talents, including freshman on varsity Shaina Kravetz.

“We’re definitely closer as a team and we’re looking a lot stronger this season.” Senior captain Nicole Cadavillo says. “Last year was tough. We had to travel to different places for practice since our pool was under construction, so it’ll be nice to have actual HOME meets this year.”

The novice and junior varsity team started their season off with an invite at Highland Park on Sep. 7. Nine schools competed at this invite. The novice team placed 6th with a final score of 116 points. The junior varsity team finished the invite with a final score of 87, also claiming 6th place.  

The Vikings had their first three level and diving meet on Thursday, Sep. 12 against the Evanston Wildcats. Varsity coach Paul Torres comments on the swims of the night.

“Niles North went up against powerhouse Evanston on Thursday and despite the loss the coaching staff was very happy with how our team competed as a whole.” Torres said.

The junior varsity team finished with 41 points to Evanston’s 139. The varsity team finished the night off with a commendable 51 points to Evanston’s 133 points.

Sophomore and returning state swimmer Azra Avdic dominated her 100 yard butterfly swim with a time of 57.84. Sophomore Selma Jukic and junior Morgan Conneely also competed in this race, finishing with 1:06.25 and 1:17.95, respectively.

Varsity divers junior Anida Pekovic and senior Nicole Hawel also went head to head against the Wildcats.

Although outnumbered, the Viking divers ended the night with successful dives. First year diver Hawel placed 4th with a final score of 126.50. Pekovic finished in 5th place with a score of 107.50.

The Varsity team competed in the Niles West Early Bird Invite on Saturday, Sep. 14. Niles North finished in 4th place out of the 6 competitors, with a commendable score of 179 points.

Avdic finished in first place in her 100 yard butterfly swim, defeating the second place swim by five seconds. Her time was 58.63.

Sophomores Alma Jukic, Elena Ruiz, Avdic, and S. Jukic finished in second place for their 200 yard Medley Relay. The final time of this underclassmen power relay was 2:o1.83.

Hawel placed 10th with a score of 201.10 in the varsity diving competition.

Come support your girls swim team on Friday, Sep. 20 at Waukegan High School at 5:30.

Go Vikings!