Gojakovic Rules The Pool At GBN Again

Evanston swim coach Kevin Auger sent out a group text early in the week reminding his swimmers and coaches that the sectional meet site had been shifted from Glenbrook South to Glenbrook North because the GBS scoreboard wasn’t functioning.

That meant all Vanya Gojakovic had to do Saturday was hit the reset button.

Competing in the GBN pool --- site of the conference meet the previous Saturday --- again certainly helped the ETHS junior find a comfort zone. Gojakovic racked up four lifetime best swims for the second week in a row, lowered her own school records in both the 200-yard individual medley and 50 freestyle, and captured individual championships in the IM and 100 backstroke to pace Evanston’s state qualifiers.

Then again, every lane Gojakovic lines up in turns out to be a fast lane. Her winning IM time of 2 minutes, 3.71 seconds, more than a second quicker than the school record she set at the Central Suburban League South division meet, ranks as the second fastest time in the state of Illinois coming out of the sectional, behind only Dundee Crown’s Rachel Johnson’s 2:03.66 effort.

Gojakovic’s record leadoff relay leg of 23.44 helped the 200 freestyle relay team take down another school mark --- the new record is now 1:45.21 --- and the junior standout missed out on a school record by one-hundredth of a second on her way to victory in the backstroke, too.

All told, the Wildkits qualified three relays and also claimed four individual qualifying berths for next weekend’s Illinois High School Association state finals at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont. Evanston finished fourth in the 13-team field with 171 points, behind only New Trier (301.5), Loyola Academy (261) and Maine South (197).

First place finishers at the sectional automatically advanced to State, along with individuals and relays that matched or bettered the existing qualifying standards. The preliminaries are set for next Friday, with the consolation and championship finals set for Saturday.

Besides Gojakovic’s two wins, Evanston scored fourth place finishes from qualifiers Susannah Keller in the 500 freestyle (5:13.27), Nina Gatchell in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.87), and the 200 medley (1:45.21), 200 freestyle (1:35.24) and 400 freestyle (3:34.70) relays.

Auger might be running out of superlatives to describe Gojakovic’s accomplishments, and she still has a full season left competing for the Kits no matter what happens next weekend at State.

“When I sent that text I said we’ll run it back to last week, and that’s just what Vanya did. She helped us set records in three events --- again --- and she won two herself besides getting four lifetime bests again,” said the veteran coach. “And it’s hard to get lifetime bests like that when you’re at the elite level that she’s at.

“She wouldn’t have done it except for the fact there are so many incredible swimmers here on the North Shore. She got pushed most of the way in the IM and she got pushed every step of the way in the backstroke.”

Only three competitors in the IM broke 2:04 in sectionals Saturday --- Kate Farrell of St. Charles North was clocked in 2:03.75 --- and Gojakovic’s original goal of just making it to the championship heat at State next Saturday might need to be adjusted.

“We’ve talked about finishing in the top 8 all year, but she’s capable of better than that,” Auger declared. “We’ve pointed out to her that if she can go 2:02 (when she’s fully tapered and rested) that then she’d be in the hunt for a top 3 podium spot (on the awards stand) at State.

“All she has to do is concentrate on going faster again next week. She can’t worry about what the others will do. I know she’ll get up and race, and if there’s somebody close, she’ll beat them.”

Gojakovic knows that she’s in elite company now in an event that few swimmers attempt to master because of the difficulty involved in training for all four (backstroke, breastroke, butterfly, freestyle) strokes and thriving in all of them.

“Today was a great progress check for me,” she said. “My breaststroke (35.09 split) was a little faster than it has been before and the IM was really solid for me as a whole. I’m very happy with that time and it really motivates me now for State. It’s insane to be No. 1, or near it, but I don’t think there’s anywhere I’d rather be. I’m really in a great spot now, and the opportunity to do well at State makes everything so much better.

“Coming back into the same pool today I just had to do it all again --- and try a little harder. Getting that 200 freestyle (relay) record was really the highlight for me today. It feels so great because all four of us put everything into that race. I didn’t even know it was a school record until someone told me, and then we all started screaming. It was crazy!”

The top six teams in that race all qualified for State, with New Trier claiming the win in 1:34.31. Evanston’s effort of 1:35.24 eclipsed the previous school record of 1:35.34 set in 2019, and it came as Auger’s decision to insert sophomore Talia Wexler into the lineup paid big dividends.

Wexler, among the squad’s most versatile swimmers, actually competed in the open 500 at the conference meet but was Auger’s choice to help keep that unit’s season alive Saturday.

She turned in a split of 24.23 after Gojakovic re-broke her own 50 record leading off in 23.44, and Tacy Jamison (24.15) and Annika Wartowski (23.38) made sure the Wildkits finished a comfortable three and a half seconds under the state cut.

“I know I swam the 500 last week, but I really consider myself more of a sprinter,” Wexler said. “Coach just puts me in any freestyle race he can. My PR (personal record) before this was in the high 24s, maybe a 24.9, but I was so excited to be able to swim with these other girls. I love them all and even though I’ve been in this relay a decent number of times during the season, I was never in with all of them.

“I knew I had this in me. I just had to bring it out in the moment.”

Auger knew the sophomore had it in her, too.

“It was between Talia and Nina (Gatchell) and Merrill (Short) for that spot,” he explained. “I knew there was no chance Merrill would be ready for that today coming directly off the 500 free, and Nina wouldn’t be fully rested either. So we gave Talia a chance and said if she goes 24 seconds, she’ll get that spot. She went out and earned it today.”

Gojakovic repeated as sectional IM champ, this time beating Loyola runner-up Maeve Atwood by more than two seconds. But in the backstroke, New Trier’s Olivia Musick turned up the heat on the ETHS star in the third leg and Gojakovic out-touched her by a margin of 55.57 to 55.61 at the finish.

Jane Munro’s ETHS mark of 55.56 set in 2008 still stands --- at least until next weekend.

“I didn’t get the record, but I’m really glad I dropped time like that,” Gojakovic said. “I’m still not that tapered yet. We’ll see how it goes at State.”

Gojakovic combined with Gatchell, Jamison and Wartowski to place fourth in the medley relay to start the competition strong for the Wildkits. Everyone wearing the Orange and Blue was happy with the way it ended, too, as the 400 freestyle relay team of Short, Jamison, Keller and Wartowski turned in a season best performance of 3:34.70.

All four girls would likely consider other events or distances their best --- both Short and Keller competed in the 200 and 500 freestyle events Saturday --- but they punched a ticket to State anyway.

“I’m not surprised they made it,” said Auger. “When we decided we weren’t going to use Vanya in three relays, we said the others had to step up. We put that in their ears all year. For Merrill to bounce back from her 500 (she missed qualifying by a couple of seconds) the way she did is a testament to her fortitude and how much she loves this team.

“The way Susannah filled in the gap for us on her leg was incredible, and Annika gave us another best time (51.89 anchor split), too.”