EVANSTON – A lot can get lost amid the sea of people at the IHSA girls swimming and diving state meet.

As Evanston Township’s pool deck and stands were jammed with people and state powers New Trier, Fenwick and Glenbrook South were breaking state and national records, Tri-Cities area teams fared quite nicely during Friday’s preliminaries.

Despite only one area individual qualifying for today’s championship finals (St. Charles East’s Nicole Chapko in the 100-yard breaststroke), East, St. Charles North and Rosary still had plenty to cheer about.