Girls swimming: Cary-Grove’s Maggie Bendell qualifies for state diving finals, sits in 2nd place after Day 1

Cary-Grove senior Maggie Bendell has a chance at winning back-to-back state diving championships after recording a top-two finish during Friday’s preliminary and semifinal rounds at the IHSA Girls Swimming and Diving State Meet at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.

Bendell, an Iowa State commit, sits in second place entering Saturday’s finals with a score of 355.70, trailing only Loyola Academy’s Greta Kavanagh (356.05). Fremd’s Que Genet is in third with a 346.25.

The top 16 finishers – up from 12 in the past – advance to the finals, which begin at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Bendell placed seventh as a sophomore and won the Trojans’ first state diving championship last year.

Marian Central sophomore Abby Hill was second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.35 to qualify for Saturday’s A finals (first to eighth place). Hinsdale Central’s Burley Bokos was first in 4:54.19.

Hill also finished 12th in the 200 free (1:53.43) and will compete in Saturday’s B finals (ninth to 16th place).

Burlington Central junior Hannah Johnson took seventh in the 500 free (5:03.26) to qualify for the A finals. She was 14th in the 200 free (1:53.72) to make the B finals.

Johnson’s teammate, sophomore Kate Farrell, took seventh in the 200 free (1:52.29) to advance to the A finals. She was 12th in the 500 free (5:05.07) to make the B finals.

Crystal Lake South co-op’s Bella Fontana, Avery Watson, Mackenzie Resch and Abby Uhl were eighth in the 400 free relay (3:29.58) to qualify for the A finals.

Fontana, Resch, Watson and Uhl also finished 13th in the 200 free relay (1:36.57) to advance to the B finals.

Uhl, a junior at Prairie Ridge, was eighth in the 200 free (1:52.44) to qualify for the A finals. She was 16th in the 100 free (51.63) to make the B finals.

Watson, a senior at South, placed 19th in the 100 butterfly (57.39). Fontana, a sophomore at South, tied for 24th in the 50 free (24.20).

Dundee-Crown co-op’s Eliana Niemi, Tessa Iverson, Katelyn Mumper and Rachel Johnson were 24th in the 400 free relay (3:37.14)

Rachel Johnson, a freshman at Jacobs, was 18th in the 100 backstroke (57.56) and 23rd in the 100 free (52.09).

Niemi, a freshman at Jacobs, finished 36th in the 50 free (24.95). D-C co-op’s Kaitlyn Tomaszewski, a sophomore at Jacobs, was 31st in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.65).

Woodstock North co-op senior Bella Borta tied for 30th in the 50 free (24.26).