Boys swimming: Sectional scouting, Northwest

Boys swimming / Sectional scouting

Lane lines: Mid-Suburban League swimmers plus teams from St. Viator and Maine West will be taking their best shot at qualifying for the folllowing week's state meet, which will be hosted by New Trier.

To get there, swimmers will need to either win their races or equal the state-qualifying standard in their race at the sectional meet. Beating that standard is what's on everyone's mind, much more so than winning an event - on this day, it's all about the time. There's no team component in the advancement to state, so although team scores are kept, every team will measure success a little bit differently, on a sliding scale: Of the realistic chances to get swimmers into the state finals, how many were successful?

The qualifying standards are tough, as always. Anybody who makes these times is one fine athlete:

200 medley relay: 1:37.95 200 free: 1:44.92 200 IM: 1:58.35 50 freestyle: 21.90 100 fly: 52.73 100 free: 47.94 500 free: 4:46.85 200 free relay: 1:27.93 100 backstroke: 53.86 100 breaststroke: 1:00.50 400 freestyle relay: 3:14.23

Two sites close to home figure to have plenty of athletes taking the next step. Diving begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, with swimming to follow at 1 p.m. at all sectionals.

At Glenbrook NorthOutlook: One of the best collections of Mid-Suburban East teams in recent history will gather again, with loads of state meet hopefuls taking their best shot at advancing. They'll have plenty of competition at this sectional, where the inclusion of state power New Trier plus solid squads from Glenbrook North, Deerfield and Loyola along with an up-and-coming St. Viator team will assure tons of great racing.

The top East team is Rolling Meadows, led by all-stater Jake Barson. He's been well under the state cut in both the 200 IM and 100 breast already and will have key relay legs. Junior sprinter Kuba Debkowski has been near the state cut in the 50 free all year, and freshman Josh Dellorto was a little more than a second off the state 200 free cut in last week's MSL meet, where the Mustangs produced an all-time best third-place finish. Meadows' relays also have a chance to advance.

Elk Grove senior Colin Williams dazzled in winning twice in the MSL meet (200 free, 100 fly) and aims for a second straight trip - and even better final placements - in those events at state.

Hersey freshman Michael Petro won an MSL title in the 200 IM last week and expects to advance in the 100 fly as well; he figures to be among the state's elite in both races at the state meet. The same holds for another standout freshman, St. Viator's Michael Balcerak; he's been well below the state cut in the 100 free and very close to it in the 200 free.

Prospect senior Sam Gabriel has already been under the state cut in the 100 backstroke, and has a chance in the 50 free as well in what would be his first state voyage. Third-place MSL diver Stephen Schmit, also a senior, has a chance to move on too.

Wheeling's Jake Noel (IM, backstroke) is a returning state qualifier and may have company, as brother Kyle Noel has really made big gains this year in the freestyles and IM.

Maine West's top competitors figure to be Phil Vaccarello (sprints) and Tony Connor (fly), while Buffalo Grove diver Jack Delattre place fourth at the MSL meet with a nice score of 382.65.

At BarringtonOutlook: Mid-Suburban League champ Barrington, runner-up Fremd and fourth-place league finisher Palatine both bring lineups with plenty of opportunity to advance. The two Colins - O'Leary, a sophomore, and Cross, a junior - have both been significantly below the state cut in two individual events apiece. Sophomore Mitch Gavars excels in the distance freestyles, and the Broncos have lots of candidates - among them Chase Lesniak, Jeremy Kleinjan and John Lagoni - who could punch their state ticket with just one more solid time drop. Great overall depth gives Barrington three strong relays with chances for advancement.

Fremd produced strong freestyle relays at the conference meet and will surely focus on getting them to the next level. Roshan Rajan leads the way with the sprint freestylers after runner-up finishes in both the 50 and 100 freestyles at the MSL meet. MSL diving champ Zach Mega also figures to have a great chance to move on, and there's a handful of Vikings, such as Arnas Maciunas in the 200 and 500 free, who are on the verge of earning another week of swimming.

Palatine has a returning individual state qualifier in sophomore Alex Bartosik, and he'll have plenty of company in attempting another trip as the Pirates have a group closing in on what would be their first state meet: Jake Klein (200, 500 free), Marcus Carter-Buckman (back sprints), Jordan Kalina (fly, relays), Oleksiy Korniychuk (breast, IM) and Jacob Baran (sprints) are among the top candidates to advance. The Pirates' 400 free relay is especially strong.

Conant junior Kevin Courtney impressed with a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly at the MSL meet and got himself within range of the state cut at the same time, and Cougars diver Cole Aykroid looks poised to advance after a strong runner-up finish at the MSL meet. Likewise for Hoffman Estate seniors Joe Smiley and Bartosz Widelak, who will elevate the Hawks' freestyle relays. Schaumburg's best chance seems to be sophomore Sam Thomas in the breaststroke.

Greatly adding to the texture of the meet will be four terrific teams from outside the MSL - Stevenson, Cary-Grove, McHenry and the Jacobs co-op team.

Stevenson won the North Suburban Conference meet and has plenty of state meet candidates. Tops among them is distance standout Nick Koto, but look for first-rate relays and strong individuals entrants throughout the Pats' lineup.

Cary-Grove claimed top honors in the Fox Valley Conference Invite. That's sign of great overall lineup balance, but the Trojans also have state-worthy quality at the top as junior distance stalwart Cooper Langanis looks for his first state meet trip. C-G has a terrific freshman backstroker/flyer in Nick Jasinski and enough depth to have three strong relays.

McHenry has a pair of state shoo-ins in juniors Kevin Braun (sprints) and Trey Schopen (fly, 200 free), and their skill makes the Warriors' freestyle relays particularly strong. Both are returning state qualifiers.

Jacobs co-op has a returning state qualifier in backstroker Francis Ogaban and enough depth to add competition to plenty of finals heats.

- Aaron Gabriel