Rolling Meadows, Prospect prepare for East showdown

The friendliest of rivals will put that friendship to the test starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday as Prospect's boys swimming team hosts Rolling Meadows at Wheeling's pool.

The defending Mid-Suburban East champion Knights expect a great meet from Rolling Meadows as both aim to keep their hopes alive for a perfect run against their divisional foes.

Both teams are unbeaten through their first three East duals, so the winner Friday will be in a commanding position with just one East dual meet remaining next week.

What makes this matchup unusual is the level of familiarity the teams have with one another. Earlier this month, Prospect and Rolling Meadows met for an afternoon of laser tag, a logical extension of the competitive fun they seem to have together. Many of the swimmers from opposing high school teams are actually teammates for the eight non-high school months of the year.

"Prospect is an awesome team, and I am so impressed with how great the are doing this year," said Rolling Meadows coach Monika Chiappetta. "At this time of the season, both teams have been working so hard and are both beat up - it will be great to see how the boys from both teams step up.

"On top of that, the boys and their families are friends. It will be an incredible meet."

Meadows' alpha Mustang is senior Jake Barson, an all-stater in the breaststroke who's also made huge gains in the 200 IM and sprint freestyles this year. Kuba Debkowski, Filip Pancerz, Josh Dellorto, Jake Pors, Joe Ure, Tony Sarussi, Kamil Halaj, Andrew Tavares, Ryan Smith and David Myers are among the other top varsity performers, but perhaps the most impressive part about the Mustangs' story is how they've also been able to build quality depth throughout the lineup.

"Rolling Meadows is probably the deepest team we'll see all year in the East, and they are flying right now," said Prospect coach Alfonso Lopez. "It's going to take a full team effort to try and defend our MSL East title."

Senior Sam Gabriel's continue emergence bodes well for the Knights. He's got the top 100 back time in the MSL this year (53.31) and has quickly developed into one of the league's top sprint freestylers. Lopez pointed to similar gains made by senior Michael Morikado (fly), Jack Gabriel (sprints), Jacob Kosinski (breaststroke) and Nick Partipilo (sprints, IM) as keys to the team's overall effectiveness.

One big plus is Prospect's favor is diving, where Anthony Liva and Stephen Schmit have been head and shoulders above most of their competition.

"Friday should be pretty fun - it's senior night and the pool should be packed," Lopez said. "I expect a back and forth meet with both teams laying it all on the line."