The Girls Field Hockey and Girls Swim & Dive teams are both in competitive positions to advance to State in 2025.
The last time the field hockey team advanced to the state tournament was in 2023, when they finished in fourth place. That season, the Kits fell short to Lake Forest High School, New Trier, and Glenbrook South. This season, Evanston beat Lake Forest for the first time in program history, showing just how much the program has grown. With a 13-5-1 record, the Kits are determined to head back down to State and take home the title.
The team is led by Coach’s Annie Lesch, Caroline Little, and Courtney Clark, with team captains seniors Sienna Seyferth, Natalie Lesch, and Sasha Hammond.
“At the beginning of the season, we had a team meeting and we decided that our goal this year was to head to State,” said Seyferth, “Keeping the team focused and ready at every practice has really helped. I think having focus and determination keeps the team in check and ready for the games ahead.”
Junior Maggie Bird added, “Taking each game by game and practice by practice, and not getting brought down by the little things, has been huge for us.”
The Kits will be seeing familiar competition in the postseason, and they hope to advance further than last year.
The Girls’ Swim & Dive Team has also had its eyes on State. Last year, they sent 6 girls down to State. The swim team is coached by Kevin Auger and volunteer Chuck Fargo. The athletes who competed in 2024 were junior Vanya Gojakovic, senior Annika Wartowski, Cameron Corbett (Class of 2025), senior Tacy Jamison, senior Georgia Stoolmaker, senior Nina Gatchell, and Ashlyn Rogowski (Class of 2025) as an alternate.
The event that placed highest last year was the 200-meter freestyle relay, placing 10th and earning All-State.
When Gojakovic was asked how the swim team prepares for State, she explained tapering: “We take practice a little bit easier in the weeks leading up to State.”
She also added that athletes begin their taper at different times, depending on when their season will end. State qualifiers are determined based on performances at conference and sectionals.
“The two fastest from each event go to sectionals, and then you have to get the state cut at that meet. If you get the State cut earlier, it doesn’t count; it has to be at sectionals,” explained Gojakovic.
Projected to qualify for State this year are Wartowski, Jamison,Gojakovic, senior Nina Gatchell, senior Merrill Short, and junior Susannah Keller.
Although field hockey and swimming may be very different sports, they both have high athletic demands and critical mental discipline, and must practice the same mentality; they need to be driven and hardworking as they expect to go to State.
