Gatchell, Gojakovic Claim Titles At Evanston Invitational

The jury is still out on which events Nina Gatchell and Vanya Gojakovic will compete in when postseason swim competition starts in another month.

But both Evanston swimmers proved their ability to rise to a challenge no matter what event they’re entered in on Saturday at the 20th annual Evanston Invitational girls meet.

Gojakovic won the 100-yard backstroke in a season best time of 57.84 seconds, and minutes later Gatchell took top honors in the 100 breaststroke with HER best time of 1:07.73 while leading the Wildkits to a third place finish in the team standings.

Gojakovic, a junior, and Gatchell, a sophomore, were state qualifiers a year ago so Saturday’s performances were really no surprise. But head coach Kevin Auger has always had a philosophy of inviting the best teams possible to compete at the invitational and there’s no doubt he’d give a passing grade for the first real test of the 2025 season to both Gojakovic and Gatchell.

“They both gave us four solid swims today, and for that matter so did (sprinter) Annika Wartowski,” Auger praised. “At a meet like this we really like to see how well the girls will compete, and when you have your best races when the pressure is on you, that’s even more impressive.”

Evanston was denied another first place finish when the 200-yard medley relay team was disqualified after the unit of Gojakovic, Gatchell, Tacy Jamison and Wartowski posted a time of 1:48.89 that was under the Illinois High School Association state qualifying standard. Jamison jumped into the pool early to start her butterfly leg, but the Wildkits were still faster than Loyola Academy, which won that race in 1:48.93.

Auger noted that Gatchell’s glide to the finish --- instead of finishing off her own leg strong --- means the Kits still have some work to do while taking aim at postseason success in that particular race.

“I thought all of our relays were on point today,” the coach declared. “We got a first (medley relay) and a second (200 freestyle relay), and our B relays (teams could enter two relays in each race) gave us an advantage, too against three of the top five teams in the state. Any time we can beat Saint Charles North or Loyola in a relay, then I’m happy. We just have to clean up that one touch in the medley.

“Our only slower split in the medley was actually Vanya (27.1 in the backstroke) and that’s the first time she’s been over 27 all year. The others (Gatchell at 30.53 in the breaststroke, Jamison at 26.72 in the fly, and Wartowski 24.46 in the freestyle) all did a great job. We just wanted to see them get up and race today, and they did a great job of that.”

That foursome also claimed runnerup honors in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.07 to Loyola’s 1:38.58. Wartowski closed out the effort with an anchor leg of 24.64, and also contributed in her individual races with a tie for third in the open 50 freestyle (25.47) and a fifth in the 100 freestyle (56.45).

“Annika has gone 24.11, and her slowest time has been about 24.8, so she’s been as consistent as anyone on the team,” Auger pointed out. “She really had a good day for us.”

The invitational uses the NISCA (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association) point system that awards a certain number of points for certain established times in each event, and every competitor counts towards a team score. Loyola piled up 4,291 points to rule the field ahead of St. Charles North (3,759), Evanston (3,652), Whitney Young (3,080) and Peoria Notre Dame (1,509) in the team standings.

Gojakovic settled for second place in the 200 individual medley, although she was seeded No. 1, with a clocking of 2:08.66. Joy Cheng of Whitney Young won that race in 2:08.66 and Gatchell, although she placed seventh, chopped two times off her best in-season IM performance to date with a 2:15.52 effort.

“Nina dropped two seconds in the IM, didn’t do great in the 200 free relay, but she really bounced back well in her best event (breaststroke),” said Auger. “We’re still playing with the idea of her on the 200 relay because we have others who can go there, too. She only swam the breaststroke last year and it’s a tough ride to do both like she did today. Having some (good) competition helped her get a few more 10ths (faster), I think, in the breaststroke, and it’s also because she’s just that good.”

Also scoring top 5 individual finishes for the host team were Jamison, fifth in the 50 freestyle in 26.10; and Merrill Short, fifth in the 500 freestyle in 5:30.40.