Sibling revelry
Fris sisters love ‘angry’ competition for Lincoln-Way West
Hailey Fris could not wait for her freshman season at LincolnWay West. She looked forward to being team mates for one year with her sister, Kasey.
Hailey was perhaps even more eager to race against Kasey, who’s a senior.
“I was really excited to swim with her because I knew it was going to be a lot of friendly competition,” Hailey said. “But some angry competition, too.”
The sibling rivalry has motivated both sisters. They have been key factors in the success of the Warriors, who are 5-0 in dual meets.
“We have that competitiveness between us,” Kasey said. “We’re pushing each other in practiceand that pushes everyone else on the team, too.
“She’s definitely faster than I was when I was a freshman. It’s a good environment to have when you have freshmen coming in and pushing the upperclassmen. The upperclassmen need that push.”
The competition goes beyond practice. The sisters often swim in the same events during dual meets.
In an 88-56win on Sept. 17 over Lincoln-Way East, Kasey beat Hailey to win the 500-yard freestyle, while Hailey returned the favor by beating her sister and winning the 100 backstroke.
Kasey did not compete in the 200 individual medley, a race that Hailey alsowon.
Their bond was noticeable early on. Kasey began swimming at age 8, and Hailey was typically nearby.
“When I was swimming at my park district practices, she would be off to the side swimming with my dad,” Kasey said. “When she got old enough, she was able to
join the team. We’ve been swimming together ever since.”
Hailey was always eager to followin her sister’s footsteps.
“I was always like, ‘Kasey is doing this, Iwant to do it, too,’” she said. “I always looked up to her so much. I wanted to do it, too, and I wanted to beat her.”
The win over Lincoln-Way East was the exclamation point on a huge eight-day stretch for the Warriors, who also defeated Sandburg and Lincoln-Way Central to remain the lone unbeaten team in the SouthWest Suburban.
“I didn’t think that was the best scheduling in theworldwhenI saw it, but theway it turned out, itwas a fantasticweek for us,” Lincoln-Way West coach Eric Pavlacka said. “It’s shown how we’ve grown as a program.
“We hope to stay undefeated and see whatwe can do at the end of the season.”
Newapproach: Lincoln-Way East is 1-1-2 after losing toWest and tying Sandburg for the second time.
Junior Kate Mitchell, a state qualifier last year, won the diving competition to lead the Griffins.
East coach Kate Gabey said she washaving to reevaluate her coaching techniques for this unique season.
“We had practice at 5 a.m. this morning,” Gabey said after the dual with theWarriors. “The girls practiced, went to school or home for remote learning and came back.
“Usually you take these dual meets in stride, treat them kind of like an extra practice. Now, these are our only competitions, so I have to rememberwewant to save some energy to come out and swim some good times.”
Diving in: Most of Mother McAuley’s dual meets in theMetro Catholic Aquatic Conference have been only for swimming, but junior AbbyManos got her chance to dive Saturday against Fenwick.
Manos, who finished 10th last season in the state, won the dual with a six-dive score of 209.4.
“Abby is basically picking up where she left off last year,” McAuley coach Tony Cichowicz said. “She looks good.”