Cary-Grove's Langanis continues to develop
Cary-Grove junior Cooper Langanis certainly does not lack aggressiveness.
In the preliminaries of the boys swimming and diving state meet, Langanis was competing in the longest race of the meet, the 500-yard freestyle.
His first 100 yards of the race were completed in 51.10 seconds, the kind of speed that would make many a sprinter proud.
The rest of the race didn't go as well, but Langanis still came close to his seed time in a 25th-place finish (4:43.48). Earlier, Langanis also finished 25th in his other individual race, the 200 free.
Coach Rick Schaefer was far from disappointed in the development arc for Langanis, who only this summer became a year-round swimmer.
"The thing to remember about him is he's never been through these kind of big meets before," said Schaefer. "I think that's important."
Langanis needed to be fully rested for the previous week's sectional just to qualify for state. As a consequence, Schaefer increased the yardage and intensity early this week before another mini-taper in the day or two before state.
"He was just a little bit off his times from the previous week," said Schaefer. "That's actually not bad at all. And hopefully, next year we won't have to rest him at all at the sectional, and we'll see what happens at state."
Huntley senior Bryan Haage concluded his fine high school career with a 21st-place finish in the 200 IM (1:57.15) and a 34th-place finish in the 100 free (48.09), and Bartlett co-op senior Matt Lee finished 19th in the 100 breaststroke (59.38).
St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney, meanwhile, was reflecting on how much had gone well for his team - and particularly junior Joe Myhre.
Among the many highlights lefts for the North Stars in Saturday finals session, which begins at noon, is seeing how things will pan out for the top qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle.
Myhre was the fastest man in Illinois on Friday, winning his heat in 20.55.
"We're just excited to be swimming on Saturday," said Rooney. "At the start of the season, we try to picture how things could end up at this time of year - and then you take all the steps you need to in order to actually create that picture. To see our guys do that is very rewarding."
Myhre also earned a spot in the championship heat of the 100 free, qualifying fifth-fastest in 45.80.
St. Charles North will also have both freestyle relays racing, including the 200 free relay in the championship finals. That quarter qualified fourth in 1:24.61; the 400 qualified eighth in 3:08.87.
"We came in here today with the idea of having fun and really enjoying the day," said Myhre. "We've got a great group of guys, and the idea was to just to stay calm and go out and race - not get too worked up over anything.
"I think it worked out great so far."
Wheaton co-op senior Max St. George delivered the only state record of the session in the 100 backstroke, finish in 48.07.