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Mid-Suburban League lands three state swimming finalists

Jake Barson had a steely, confident look atop the starting block seconds before hitting the pool in the 100-yard breaststroke at Friday's boys swimming and diving state championships.

He had this.

And a mere 57.38 seconds later, he made it official.

Barson broke his own school record in winning his preliminary heat en route to placing fourth overall and advancing to Saturday's championship finals at New Trier.

He was one of three Mid-Suburban League swimmers to finish in the top six, thereby earning a shot at a state title.

The others were Elk Grove's Colin Williams, who qualified fifth in the 100 butterfly (49.70) and Barrington's Colin O'Leary, sixth in the 100 backstroke (51.17).

"That first 25, I didn't see anybody in my peripheral, so I was like, 'All right, if I hold this, I'm going to win the heat, and if I win the heat I'll be in top-six,'" said Barson, a senior, who made up in spades for a 16th-place finish in the 200 individual medley earlier (1:55.97). "Going into tomorrow, placing fourth is where I want to be."

Barson has his work cut out for him today in terms of moving up in a tough finals heat. Metea Valley's Jordan O'Brien finished first overall at 55.23.

But Friday was about savoring the moment, for both Barson and his coach, Monika Chiappetta.

"He swam a great one," a beaming Chiappetta said. "He hit that wall in the first 25, and I was like, 'He's got it.' Because that's the position he likes to be in, so as soon as he came off that wall, and he still had it after his pull-out, I knew that was going to motivate him to keep digging deep."

One of the first to congratulate Barson was Williams, who didn't look too shabby by taking second in his heat of the 100 butterfly, surpassing his sectional time by .21 of a second.

"I felt really good going in, my underwaters felt good, so it felt like a really good race," said Williams, who made his second appearance at state. "I wasn't stressed out coming into this race - I was so ready for it. I was happy I finished top six because now I have a chance to win."

Elk Grove coach Keith Kura said Williams' experience at state last year made the difference.

"He's just more confident this year," Kura said. "He's been here, he's been through the environment, been through all the theatrics that comes with our state meet here in Illinois, and he's here to work. It's all business, and he set a goal back in November when we started, and he's got one more opportunity to reach that goal."

O'Leary led a sizable contingent of Barrington swimmers Friday with his sixth-place finish in the backstroke, taking third place in his heat. He himself had a busy day, finishing 18th in the 100 butterfly (51.53) and leading off the Broncos' 200 medley relay team, which took 20th overall in 1:36.64.

The sophomore was just relieved to have finished in the top six, giving him a golden opportunity to improve Saturday. But like Williams, he credited his experience at state a year ago for preparing him for Friday.

"This year, I definitely felt more prepared, because last year, I went in not knowing what to expect or how far I would get," O'Leary said. "This year, I knew I could make it to state and be able to possibly make it to the podium if I tried hard enough. It was my goal this season to at least make the finals."

Another top performer Friday was St. Viator freshman Michael Balcerak, who advanced to swim in today's consolation heats by taking 10th place in the 200 freestyle (1:42.31) and 11th in the 100 freestyle (46.57).

Those efforts left his coach, Jamie Klotz, more than pleased.

"We started tapering last week about Wednesday on out, and so we talked about going faster in the races," Klotz said. "We had some pretty high goals in terms of both races; we thought he could make the top six in the 100, and we certainly thought the consolations in the 200. The 200 he went about six-tenths faster, which is kind of what we talked about."

The tough part about state is the near-misses, and the MSL had plenty of those Friday.

Take Fremd's 200 freestyle relay, which finished 14th overall, two spots outside of the consolation round.

The foursome of senior Roshan Rajan, senior Austin Yurasek, junior Kenny Benjamin and sophomore Nick Nevins posted a time of 1:26.82 - a mere .39 away from Riverside-Brookfield, which took 12th.

"We couldn't have been more prepared for this, quite honestly," Yurasek said. "We did the absolute best we could, and there were some decent kids out here. Coming in 14th, that's a huge win for us."

"We were able to fix our ups and downs," Rajan said, referring to his team's sectional performance. "We were able to fix up our stroke, to make it as efficient as we can, and go as fast as we could."

Another near-miss was turned in by Barrington sophomore Mitchell Gavars, who took 15th overall in the 500 freestyle in 4:40.29, less than 2 seconds out of 12th place and a spot in the consolation heat.

"At a meet like this, you have to sprint every lap of the whole race, and that's what I tried to do, and I'm happy with how I did," said Gavars, who took fourth in his heat.

Palatine was paced by its 400 freestyle relay team. Freshman Jacob Klein, junior Oleksiy Korniychuk, junior Marcus Carter-Buckman and sophomore Alex Bartosik took sixth in their heat with a time of 3:13.83 (21st overall).

Coach John Schauble said the meet was a learning experience for next season for his entire team, which loses only senior Jacob Baran.

"I'm really proud of the job they've done this year," said Palatine coach John Schauble. "I think it really gives them a good highlight and a good thing to visualize for next year. They know what they need to do, how hard it is, and how great their times are, and they can picture what they need to do next year."

"This shows us much we can do," Korniychuk added. "Next year, we're going to qualify even more relays. We've been working hard all year, and with a new coach, it's incredible what we've done."

Prospect was well represented by senior Sam Gabriel, who took 15th overall in the 100 backstroke at 52.09 seconds.

Fremd's Zach Mega placed 19th in diving with 185.05 points, while Conant's Cole Aykroid was 30th at 170.70.

Hersey was led by freshman Michael Petro, who took 20th overall in the 200 individual medley (1:56.84) and 21st in the 100 butterfly (51.66).

Wheeling's 400-freestyle relay was 29th overall in 3:19.09. That team was comprised of Kyle Noel, Landon Lockwood, Justin Loquercio and Jake Noel, who also took 27th in the 100 backstroke (53.14).

Wheaton co-op senior Max St. George delivered the only state record of the session in the 100 backstroke, finishing in 48.07.

Images: Boys State Swimming and Diving, Friday

  Colin Williams of Elk Grove heads for a spot in the championship finals in his best race, the 100-yard butterfly, during the state swimming prelims at New Trier on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Jake Noel of Wheeling checks his time after his 100-yard backstroke race during Friday's state meet prelims at New Trier. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Sam Gabriel of Prospect competes in the 100-yard backstroke during the state swimming prelims at New Trier on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Jake Barson of Rolling Meadows looks up at his time after winning his heat of the 100-yard breaststroke in the state swimming prelims at New Trier on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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