Boys swimming and diving / State meet scouting, Northwest
Boys swimming and diving / State meet scouting
Where: New Trier High School
Friday: Diving prelims at 9 a.m., swimming prelims at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday: Diving and swimming finals at noon.
Big pictureNeither defending champ Normal nor last year's runner-up Libertyville will figure in the team championship this year. Among the candidates to win it all are Glenbrook South with standout sprinter Jon Salomon, Metea Valley with its returning 1-2 breaststrokers Matt Salerno and Jordan O'Brien, and Lake Forest with sprinter Symen Ooms and emerging sophomore Dylan Boyd (along with diving points). Other teams with big scoring opportunities thanks to strong relays are New Trier, St. Charles North, St. Charles East and Naperville Central.
Think fastThe top seeds in the individual events are:
200 free: Dylan Boyd (Lake Forest), 1:39.42
200 IM: Sean Workman (O'Fallon), 1:48.71
50 free: Mossimo Chavez (Whitney Young) 20.40
Diving: Joey Cifelli (Marian Catholic) 603.35
100 fly: Matt Harrington (Libertyville) 49.74
100 free: Mossimo Chavez (Whitney Young) 45.09
500 free: Sam Iida (Glenbrook South) 4:35.21
100 back: Max St. George (Wheaton co-op) 49.21
100 breast: Matt Salerno (Metea Valley) 57.37
Local focus
It's not a year to look for team achievement for squads from the Mid-Suburban League and St. Viator, but it most certainly is a year for a bunch of top-notch invidividuals from those same teams to play big roles on the last weekend of the boys swimming season.
Barrington: Colin O'Leary (100 back, 100 fly) and Colin Cross (200 IM, 100 breast) both won their individual events at the sectional and have great chances to score individual points in those races state. O'Leary qualified fourth in the 100 back and 15th in the fly, while Cross is seeded sixth in the breast and 15th in the IM. Sophomore Mitch Gavars makes his second straight state trip and will race both the 200 and 500 free, with a better opportunity to score points in the latter. Senior Chase Lesniak will compete in the 100 breast, and Barrington also has a scoring chance in the medley relay, seeded 14th.
Buffalo Grove: Sophomore diver Jack Dellantre scored 405.80 at the Glenbrook North sectional and makes his first state meet appearance after earning an at-large berth.
Conant: Cole Aykroid, a sophomore, won the sectional at Barrington with a score of 448.15, earning the MSL runner-up his first state-meet appearance.
Elk Grove: Senior Colin Williams had a personal-best effort in winning the 100 fly at the Glenbrook North sectional and is a threat to make the finals, having qualified second in 49.91. Last year's 11th-place finisher in the fly also will compete in the 200 free, where he'll needed another time drop to move within scoring range in a deep and talented group.
Fremd: A team strength all season, the Vikings' sprint relay was once again at the sectional, as Roshan Rajan, Austin Yurasek, Kenny Benjamin and Nick Nevins won in 1:27.47. That seeds Fremd 21st. The rest of the action for Fremd will be on the diving boards, where freshman Zach Mega and junior Chase Jauch both earned their first state meet journeys.
Hersey: It certainly doesn't look like competing against lots of upperclassmen bothers Huskies freshman Michael Petro. He has excelled all season, and now he's put himself in position to score big points at state in both his races. In the 200 IM, Petro is seeded second at 1:52.91, and the in the 100 fly, he's sixth at 50.67. Senior diver Riley Busche gives Huskies fans another rooting interest after earning an at-large berth.
Palatine: The Pirates thrived during last week's Barrington sectional as coach John Schauble earned sectional coach of the year honors. The top point-scoring chances at state are with a standout 400 free relay which qualified 16th, and with sophomore Alex Bartosik, who is seeded 17th in the 200 IM. Freshman Jake Klein also has a chance in both the 200 and 500 freestyles, and junior Marcus Carter-Buckman gets his first state race in the 100 back.
Prospect: Senior Sam Gabriel earned his first state meet race with a sectional-winning 100 backstroke effort at Glenbrook North. His goal is to score points with a top-12 finish, and with his seed time of 51.80, he is seeded 12th. The Knights also have a pair of divers springing into action - senior Stephen Schmit and sophomore Anthony Liva.
Rolling Meadows: Jake Barson, a solo competitor last year for the Mustangs, has plenty of company this year. He's seeded fifth in the 100 breast and in the middle of the pack in the 200 IM, and will take the breaststroke leg of the Mustangs' medley relay, joining first-time state swimmers Filip Pancerz (back), Tony Sarussi (fly) and Kuba Debkowski (free). Debkowski is seeded ninth in the 50 after his eye-opening 21.24 sectional victory. And freshman Josh Dellorto also earned his first state trip in the 200 free.
St. Viator: Freshman Michael Balcerak is positioned to dent the state scoreboard in his first chance. After winning the 100 free at the Glenbrook North sectional, he's seeded 10th in that event. Balcerak is also seed 12th in the 200 free. He'd only just started to truly rest before the sectional meet, so coach Jamie Klotz is hoping for another significant pair of time drops.
Wheeling: Junior Jake Noel has reserved his full taper for this weekend and therefore has high hopes for a strong performance in his second straight state qualification in the 100 back. Wheeling also qualified the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, but those will be at less than full strength as junior Nate Reiff will miss the meet due to a national-level water polo opportunity. Reiff had also qualified individually in the 200 free.
Ready, willing and ableFremd junior Daniel Suero, Elk Grove freshman Jack Falejczyk and Maine West junior Anthony Alonzi will be among the competitors in the events for athletes with disabilities.
- Aaron Gabriel