Banner days for Lesniak, Barrington water polo

Count Chase Lesniak among the very few who will be able to play water polo in college.

And count that opportunity as further evidence of the sport's continued improvement in the Mid-Suburban League.

Lesniak, a well-rounded high school athlete by any measure, made official his commitment to Connecticut College on Thursday in a ceremony at the school. He will both play water polo and continue to compete as a swimmer for the NCAA Division III school.

For Midwestern players hoping to continue to play polo beyond the high school level, it can be difficult simply to find a place to do so, as collegiate opportunities are far more limited in water polo than in most other sports. Yet the best of the MSL's best are finding those places.

Conant senior Connor Schmitz will continue at Mercyhurst University (Erie, Pa.) at the NCAA Division II level, and two of the MSL West's top girls players, Conant's Carmen Rosas and Palatine's Caroline Wojtas, will also go next-level out East at Division I. Rosas will play at Brown University, while Wojtas will compete at Virginia Military Institute.

Making it an especially sweet day for Lesniak on Thursday was the team context supporting his achievement.

Barrington completed a perfect run through the Mid-Suburban West recently and will host Wheeling for the Mid-Suburban League championship at 6 p.m. next Thursday. It will be the Broncos' first appearance in the title game, and the achievement is even more noteworthy considering the program had regularly been among the lower achievers in the division.

A player like Lesniak helped the program grow so dramatically.

A steady goal-scorer most of his four years with the program, during which he's been a varsity starter the whole way, Lesniak is far and away the program's career scoring leader with more than 300 goals. But he also led the Broncos in both assists and steals in his first three seasons, and that all-around play started to pay dividends for the program last season.

Barrington finished 23-7 last spring, by far its best season on record - until this spring, that is.

The team's only blemish has been a 14-10 loss Tuesday at Naperville Central, a squad ranked No. 2 in the state by illpolo.com. The Broncos are 22-1 at the moment, with a state ranking of 13 - sure to improve after a strong showing against the Redhawks.

While Lesniak has still done plenty of scoring this year, one key to the team's success is that he's such an efficient offensive enabler for his senior teammates - and he's got a great group of them.

Marshall Mathias has led the team in scoring, but Matt Gouskos, Charlie Hoffman and Pat Hogan have also been steady, making it difficult for teams to double-team Mathias or others. Another senior, goalkeeper Andrew Fischer adds to the senior vibe (there are 13 on the roster), but the Broncos also have a roster full of talented sophomores, including Mitchell Gavars, Colin O'Leary, Riley Lehmann, Scott Robinson, John Fischer and goalkeeper Jack Krieps. They've thrived at JV level against many of the state's elite programs while also bostering the varsity roster.

And of course, there are the Barrington coaches. Rob Emary has overseen the dramatic surge the past two seasons as Scott Krasinski has installed the nuts and bolts of an impressive water polo machine at the varsity level while Butch Gavars keeps the development humming along with JV.

Lesniak's highest athetic achievements have come in water polo - he's already a three-time all-MSL choice, a two-time team captain, and earned all-sectional honors last year. But he was also a key member of Barrington's conference championship swimming team the last two seasons, and set place-kicking records for the football team in the fall.

He'll devote quite a bit more time to water polo before college, as he continues summer commitments to the Midwest's Olympic Development Program, with planned participation in the national tournament in California in late July.

It will be fun to see exactly where polo continues to take Lesniak.

Sectional seeds: In boys water polo, Barrington has the No. 1 seed in the sectional to be hosted by Schaumburg; Conant, St. Viator and Fremd earned the 2-3-4 seeds. At Buffalo Grove, Stevenson on the No. 1, with Wheeling (6), Palatine (8) and Buffalo Grove (10) among the field.

In girls, Conant is tops at Schaumburg, followed by Prospect, Fremd and the host Saxons. At Buffalo Grove, Stevenson is No. 1, followed by Palatine at No. 2.

International flavor: The U.S. Men's National Team will make a rare visit Chicago on June 9 and will face Serbia in the fourth and final meeting between the programs in a one-week set of contests.

The teams will play three games in California before visiting for a 7:45 p.m. contest at the Illinois-Chicago natatorium. Tickets are $15 for the general public and discounted slightly for USA Water Polo members.

The U.S. team is led by Dejan Udovicic, who coached Serbia to a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics before taking over the national team post for the U.S.

For more information, visit usawaterpolo.org.