TriCounty The Illinois High School Association began conducting a girls swimming and diving state series in 1976. It wasn't until 2009 that an entry from the Tri-County Area won a championship.
Peoria Notre Dame junior Becky Stoughton engineered the breakthrough, winning the 200-yard freestyle in I minute, 50.01 seconds after placing 11th in the 200 free as a freshman and 10th as a sophomore.
Six events later, the Peoria Area Water Wizards product added the 500 free title. Stoughton finished in 4:52.40 after qualifying the day before in a career-best 4:48.18.
Senior Olivia Scott of team champion Rosary in Aurora was the only other swimmer in the 2009 state finals to win two individual events.
1992 Tri-County Coach of the Year LORENE RAMSEY Thirteen was far from an unlucky number for Ramsey, whose Illinois Central College Cougars, after missing out on title trophies in 12 previous national tournament appearances - captured the 1991-1992 NJCAA Division II women's championship with an 89-72 victory over Lansing (Mich.) Community College late last March in Bismarck, N.D. | ![]() |