Newman’s Gill good in first lane

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Morrison’s Brianna Eizenga swims the last leg of 200-yard freestyle relay on Saturday in E. Moline. (Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@svnmail.com)

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The outside lane has been kind to Marissa Gill whenever she swims at a sectional meet.

For the second time in as many years Saturday, Gill won the 50-yard freestyle from Lane 1 at United Township Sectional in East Moline.

The Newman senior also had a personal best time at 24.81 seconds, which beat the state cut of 24.84.

“It was like a dream out there,” Gill said. “Everything went by so fast. I am so happy to have swam that time today.”

Gill finished second in the 100 backstroke to Moline’s Allison Patch. Gill came in at 1 minute, 1.49 seconds.

Lightner, Thompson advance: Dixon sophomores Rose Thompson and Ciara Lightner will have a busy day at Friday and Saturday’s state meet at New Trier High School in Winnetka.

Thompson qualified in four events and Lightner in three for the Byron co-op at the Byron Sectional. Thompson’s 100-yard freestyle time of 52.25 seconds surpassed the sectional record that had stood since 1979.

Lightner and Thompson were part of the winning 200 medley relay with Chloe Wild and Kayla Kohlmeier that came in at 1:51.77. The same group finished second in the 200 relay, but still advanced with a time of 1:39.55, under the state cut of 1:40.19.

Thompson also won the 50 freestyle in 23.78. Lightner won the 100 backstroke in 1:00.01.

Point of comparison: After her sophomore year, Brianna Eizenga transferred from Clinton High School in Iowa to Morrison.

Before leaving Clinton, she was alternate on a relay team for the Iowa state swim meet.

On Saturday, Eizenga was able to assure herself a spot at her new state’s meet by winning the 500 freestyle in 5:35.76.

“I’ve been working all year for this,” Eizenga said. “It’s special because it’s the first time that I am going to get to swim at the state meet and it’s been awhile since Morrison had a swimmer there.”

Eizenga is the first Morrison swimmer to qualify for state since 2004, when Rachel Fedyk and Amanda Smith made it in the 50 freestyle, and the 200 relay team also qualified.

Back on board: Newman freshman Laura Turnroth turned heads early this season in diving.

Then an accident banged up her head. She hit the board hard on a dive and suffered a severe concussion. She missed six weeks of the season.

On Saturday, Turnroth competed at the sectional meet a mere four weeks after returning from injury.

She finished second with 330.75 points, which was just short of receiving an at-large bid to the state meet.

The score did break Mary Sue LeMay’s Newman freshman 11-dive score record by 70 points. LeMay took second last season at the state diving meet and now is diving for the University of Iowa.

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