Girls Swimming: St. Charles North, East come together to raise money in Madison ‘Scout’ Cantrell’s memory

ST. CHARLES – A beam of sunlight pierced through gracefully down center frame as the St. Charles North and St. Charles East girls swim programs posed for a picture minutes before competition.

On Sept. 8, there was no blue, black, silver or orange to separate the two.

Only tie-dye pink, Madison “Scout” Cantrell’s favorite color, to remind all what the seventh annual “For Scout” St. Charles crosstown swim meet spirit truly encapsulates: “Do it for you. Do it for them. Do it for Scout.”

This school year would have been Cantrell’s senior season on the swim team. North’s 111-74 varsity team victory Sept. 8 was little more than a footnote.

The meet generated $10,000 in donations to benefit the For Scout Foundation, which was created in Cantrell’s honor after her tragic death in October 2014.

Before the meet, six swimmers who would have been in Cantrell’s graduating class – Enya Linson, Sydney Jenkins, Kate Wolff, Nicole Burton, Lindsay Baxter and Ellie Bawolek – posed with the Cantrell family, including 2019 St. Charles North alum Katie, Scout’s older sister.

“She’s my sister, so there might’ve been a little pink sparkle dust in the air tonight,” Middlebury College senior Katie Cantrell said while addressing the crowd. “None of this would’ve been possible without all of the love this community has for each other and for ‘For Scout.’

“I was talking with my mom [Felicity] before this meet and there’s not many places you can go where two rival teams in a town come together for one cause. And love each other for one night. Most places, it’d be like, ‘I’m going to beat East; I’m going to beat North.’ But not St. Charles.

“All of you love one another so deep on this night every single year and you do it for your community, you do it for one another, but most of all, you do it for Scout. For that, my family and myself, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the love and everything you guys have done to support [our family] these last eight years since Scout has passed.”

In 2019, the meet raised $7,885. To date, the For Scout Foundation has donated nearly $341,000 to organizations in the Fox Valley area including Feed My Starving Children and Anderson Humane Shelter.

“[Scout] was so hardworking,” Linson said. “When we were younger, the main memory that comes to mind for me is we swam the 200 IM together for the first time. I just remember her and I. I just looked up to her so much. She was incredible at swimming even back then and just racing that race with her – I got destroyed – but she just was so motivating.

“She was such a kind soul. She was a really special person to all of us. I think it’s really incredible that two crosstown teams can come together and make such a big impact on the community. I feel like St. Charles North and East have done a really good job throughout all of the years that Scout has unfortunately not been with us to come together.”

Linson quickly paused, then noted: “Everyone here is in pink. Everyone is supporting.

“All of the parents came out tonight. This is the biggest showing we’ve had so far. Just to see that, everyone loved Scout. Everyone is here to support and love this community.”

St. Charles East junior Kate Lewandowski remembers Scout’s outgoing personality.

“So genuine and so willing to help others,” Lewandowski said. “Just [being] a really amazing friend. Obviously, she was an amazing swimmer, but truly, the kind person she was truly is what will stick with me.

“It’s just really amazing to have something that brings us all together. Obviously, East and North [can be] very divided [in sports] and we want to beat each other. ... [This meet] has us all reflect on who we are, who we want to be and how we want to live up to Scout’s legacy. Just live every day for Scout because she missed out on so much.”