CATS swimmers have high hopes for Speedo Sectional

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Chad Church of the CATS Swim Club competes in the 200 breaststroke at the Speedo Illinois Senior Championships at Stevenson High School. He'll be joining teammates in the USA Speedo Sectional in Iowa City this weekend. | Jerry Daliege~for Sun-Times Med

Updated: September 19, 2011 12:27AM

If the next few weeks are full of competitive swims, Melanie Rowland will not be complaining.

The Towson University freshman, who competes for the CATS Swim Club, brings high hopes to the Speedo Sectional at the University of Iowa this weekend. Rowland has visions of advancing to Senior Nationals in these events: 200 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly and the 400 free relay.

In the final event, Rowland will team with Whitney Mitchell (Libertyville), Zoe Eldridge (Vernon Hills) and Michelle Garland (Libertyville).

“I’m hoping they can make the cut,” said CATS coach Vlad Pyshnenko.

Regardless of how it all plays out, Pyshnenko has been impressed by Rowland’s attitude.

“What I like is that she always has a positive attitude,” the coach said. “Some swimmers will ask, ‘why are we doing a hard set?’ But she is always willing to do the work.”

Rowland and Co. hope to qualify for the Senior Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif.

Both Rowland and Mitchell were in position to earn medals at the Speedo Illinois Senior Championships last weekend at Stevenson. Rowland reached the finals in the 100 butterfly and 100 free, while Mitchell also advanced to the finals in the 100 free. But both competitors opted to scratch from the finals in order to rest for the sectional meet.

CATS boys: The club will send eight competitors to the sectional. Those shooting for Junior National cuts are Kyle Aerne (Grayslake), Kurt Dickson (Grayslake), Kevin Lenz (Vernon Hills), Ben Snader (Libertyville), Alex Snarski (Libertyville), Atticus Rush (Libertyville), Peter Grumhaus (Lake Forest) and Chad Church (Gurnee).

Grumhaus, who is new to the club, wears the tag of Mr. Versatile. According to Pyshnenko, Grumhaus is a standout in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 backstroke and 1500 free.

“Peter could make the cuts in a few events,” the coach said. “I just don’t know what events he’s going to swim yet.”

Church, who is also a first-year competitor, has emerged as the CATS’ top breaststroker.

It’s taken time for Church to adjust to club swimming.

He said to us, ‘where are we meeting for the bus?’” Pyshnenko recalled. “We told him, ‘what bus, you have to get there on your own.’”

All kidding aside, Church has a legitimate shot of qualifying for Junior Nationals in the 100 breaststroke.

The wild card in this bunch is Mundelein’s Connor Black. The star suffered a broken ankle and is still in recovery mode. As the Junior Nationals approach, Pyshnenko has been talking with former Olympic champion Tom Jager about Black’s status.

“Tom has said, ‘you can’t beat the experience of a Junior National Meet,’” related Pyshnenko, aware Jager is a coach at Washington State University. “Tom’s advice is that Connor should go, even if he doesn’t swim his best times.”