2015 state preview: Scouting Tri-Cities area swimmers

If none of the area's boys swimming and diving teams figure to challenge for the state title this weekend in the finals held at New Trier, each has chances to score points - a number of points in some cases.

The prelims for qualifying St. Charles East, St. Charles North and Marmion athletes take place Friday while the championship and consolation heats of 11 swimming events and the final six dives for the top 12 divers will decide how the medals and trophies are distributed.

St. Charles East has the largest group of qualifiers, with all three relays and six individual entries as the prelims begin at 3:30 p.m. The finals begin at noon on Saturday.

"We're young but experienced at the same time," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "Our guys have been to some big club meets. We want to do well, but there's definitely something to build on for the future."

The Saints' highest-seeded swimmer from last weekend's sectional performances is freshman Mitch Milosch, who is seeded seventh in the 100-yard butterfly.

"He's a natural," Cabel said. "He's a submariner in the way he swims. He's fast under water and stays there a long time, and those swimmers are kind of rare."

Cabel compared Milosch to former Ohio State star swimmer Bill Weaver, whose swimming style set school records that stood for more than a decade.

"(Weaver) spent most of his time underwater," Cabel said. "(Milosch) has just starting using that technique and is figuring it out."

Milosch has a brother on the team in junior Nick Milosch, though Cabel said, "he has five brothers on the team. They've all taken him under their wing and it's helped him mature in the season. It's amazing that the other guys want to be in the lane with him and help him. It's a very cool thing to see."

St. Charles East's only qualifier in two individual events is sophomore Nick Boryk, who carries the 11th-fastest seed in the 200 freestyle and has also qualified in the 500 freestyle. Boryk was a state qualifier as a freshman, though he failed to qualify in the top 12 in either event.

"You've seen an intensity in him, not just what you see at meets, but what we see every day in practice," Cabel said. "He's been working with Coach Kent (Pearson) and has had some really intense workouts and it's paid off for him."

Cabel said Boryk benefits from a body that seems to have been proportioned with a swim career in mind.

"He's all arms and legs and there's not much in-between," Cabel said. "He has a kind of (Michael) Phelps appearance, and it works very well when you're in the water."

St. Charles East hasn't had a diver finish in the top 12 since Tony Marinaccio finished seventh in 1999, but Andrew Lewarchick is seeded 12th and the junior has a chance of earning a state medal.

"He seems to like diving in big meets," Cabel said. "He really liked the sectional meet. It's his first year diving, but he's seeded in a position where he can get into the finals. It comes down to his first five dives, and those are his best dives."

Lewarchick was a talented gymnast before turning his talents to the diving board, and Cabel said the transition has gone very well.

"The word on the street was that the bigger the gymnastics meet, the better he did," Cabel said. "I think that's accurate. He looks a lot cleaner and a lot sharper than he did before."

While he needs a solid time drop to make the finals, junior John Tarpey is seeded 20th in the 100 backstroke.

"(Tarpey) is the heart and soul of our team," Cabel said. "To use words like 'gutting it out' doesn't do him justice and to say that he will 'give it his all' is a gross understatement."

The Saints' other qualifier is sophomore John Cranfill in the 100 butterfly, and Cranfill will also swim on some of the Saints relays. Each relay is seeded in a position where it could qualify for Saturday's finals.

"One of our goals was to get all three relays qualified and we'd be happy if we scored 1 point in all three of those relays. We want them to get in and swim on Saturday," Cabel said.

St. Charles North has seven entries, including all three of its relays and four individuals, and the North Stars have some very highly-seeded athletes.

"We're just going to do the best we can to be freaky fast and have some fun," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "After that, we have no control over it. I'm excited for what the boys have done. They've done a great job."

Junior Joe Myhre is seeded second-fastest in the 100 freestyle and is the No. 4 seed in the 50 freestyle. A qualifier as a sophomore, Myhre scored as a relay swimmer but not in his individual events.

"(Myhre) came in as a sophomore and had the ability to learn," Rooney said. "Over the past year, he's shown what it takes to go to the next level, both high school-wise and with national swimming. If you want to be better on the high school state meet front, you've got to be better on the national front."

Illinois high school swim meets are renowned for the noise generated by the fans and the hot, crowded conditions on-deck.

"That experience is worth more than anything right now," Rooney said.

The North Stars' Stephan Hutchinson is seeded 13th in the 50 freestyle and continues a transition on the team toward strong sprinters from the distance and stroke dominated team it has been traditionally.

"I'm enjoying coaching them," Rooney said. "They're a young group but they've got a lot of experience, which I'm happy about. I think they've got a great mentality to be sprinters."

The North Stars' other individual qualifier is diver Mike Burke. The school's 200 freestyle relay is seeded third and its 400 freestyle relay is seeded seventh while the medley relay qualified as well.

"This group of boys wants to get up on the blocks and race and represent their school and the town of St. Charles, and there's nothing greater than that," Rooney said.

Marmion has five entries headed to the state finals, its 400 freestyle relay and four individual swims.

Leading the way is freshman Will Kamps, who is seeded 11th in the 500 freestyle and 22nd in the 200 IM. The Cadets' other individual swims come from another distance swimmer - senior Andrew Kasper, who is seeded 15th in the 200 freestyle and 16th in the 500 freestyle.

"These are the guys who, when everyone else is done, they're still in the water, still going," Marmion coach Bill Schalz said.

Kamps came to Marmion as a year-round swimmer, and that dedication continued through his high school season.

"We wouldn't be having this conversation about him qualifying if he didn't swim year-round," Schalz said. "He wouldn't have been ready and wouldn't have qualified for state if he hadn't been swimming year-round. He's been in big meets and been to nationals and he's raced against some of the guys he'll see this weekend."

Beyond the number of hours he is in the water, Schalz said Kamps makes the most of his training, which further benefits him in competition.

"He's an incredible racer and he loves to swim," Schalz said. "He's a talented hard worker who loves to swim, and that's the trifecta."

Schalz said Kasper is well-poised to end his high school career with swims in Saturday's finals.

"He is the same as (Kamps), and it's good that they have worked together," Schalz said. "(Kasper) gets after it. He is exactly where we want him to be. We talked about it all year, and both of them got the drop they needed to get to state and now it's about racing to get into finals."