BYRON – Auburn’s Ursula Koch didn’t have a chance to win any individual NIC-10 swimming titles because of COVID-19, but she showed at IHSA sectionals that she’ll be a force to contend with in future years.

The NIC-10 decided not to have a conference meet this fall because of the ongoing pandemic. Instead, Hononegah was declared champion because it was a perfect 9-0 in dual meets.

So swimmers had to earn individual glory at this weekend’s secitonal meets. Koch, a sophomore, won two individual sectional titles this past weekend at the Byron 2A sectionals and finished second in another in a strong meet for Rockford Public Schools underclassmen.

Koch won both the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, while finishing second in the 200-yard individual medley.

Koch wasn’t the only sophomore to thrive on Saturday.

• Marissa Enke, a Guilford sophomore, was second in diving.
• Mikalya Durkin of Guilford was fourth in the 50-yard freestyle.

Auburn’s Ava Hayes had the best finish among the freshman. She was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.

A couple of swimmers and divers had strong finishes to their careers. Auburn senior Ali Cushing was third in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard free. And Jaden Greenlee of Guilford was third in diving.