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Langanis, Cary-Grove outpace Hoffman Estates

In the long run, swimming year-round has certainly helped Cary-Grove junior Cooper Langanis.

Already a standout distance swimmer as a sophomore, a summer commitment to the sport is yielding impressive early winter results for him.

They were on display Tuesday at Hoffman Estates, where the Langanis won the 200-meter freestyle (2:02.88) and 400 free (4:23.00) in times that are already on par with his best efforts of last winter's high school season. Those performances helped the Trojans produce a 96-86 victory in a nice nonconference matchup of teams featuring several impressive developing swimmers.

"For sure, just swimming through the summer and really being committed to swimming has helped," said Langanis. "I feel like maybe I'm a little more efficient. My stroke feels a little bit longer, a little bit smoother. And I'd say I'm a little more confident."

Another Trojan to watch is Nick Jasinski. Cary-Grove Rick Schaefer called it breakthrough meet for the freshman, who used superb turns capped by long, deep underwater glides and explosive breakouts powered by a strong kick to win the 100 fly in 1:04.54.

Jasinski tied with teammate Scott Eibel in a victory in the 100 back (1:04.29), Mitch Robak won the 100 breast (1:15.56) and Cary-Grove completed its late-meet surge with a win in the 400 free relay (3:52.15) with Eibel, Jasinski, Corey Sheehan and Langanis.

That was enough to offset a strong start from Hoffman Estates, which won the medley relay with Jacob Pasaye, Andy Hobar, Bartosz Widelak and Joe Smiley in 1:57.45. Andy and Nick Hobar then went 2-3 in the 200 free before Pasaye won the 200 IM in 2:24.59.

That set the stage for a nice 1-2 finish in the 50 free from Smiley (26.03) and Widelak (26.63), and the Hawks also got big points in diving from Sean Hawksworth (223.20) and Parker Cannon (186.65).

Widelak, a senior, has pursued an unusual double-sport commitment - swimming in the winter, gymnastics in the spring. The only time he trains for swimming is the high school season.

"It usually takes me until about this time of the season before I start to feel right in the water," said Widelak, who also finished second in the 100 fly (1:06.27). "There's just a certain amount of pool time I need for everything to start working the way it should. So to be where I am now, this early in the season, I'm feeling really good about that."

First-year Hoffman Estates head coach Jenny Toler likes the collection of athletes at her disposal. Smiley is helping bring some real punch to the lineup in the freestyle sprints and relays; he won the 100 in 58.58 against Cary-Grove.

"The thing I'm happiest about is I've got a group of guys who are really committed to the idea of swimming for each other," she said. "It's really not an individual thing with us. This group really feeds on the idea of 'team.' "

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