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Boys swimming: Early returns especially promising for Fremd, Rolling Meadows

Coaches Kristen Newby and Monika Chiappetta and were sifting through the first batch of evidence on Friday, following the first Mid-Suburban League boys swimming dual of their seasons in Palatine.

Newby's Fremd team was the clear winner, having claimed a 122-62 victory over Rolling Meadows.

But both programs came away with encouraging results as they seek to find the most effective combinations of athletes for the season ahead.

Newby, who teaches in Fremd's science department, feels right at home with the empirical nature of early season meets.

"It's some serious data analysis for us this year," she said. "We feel like we've got a lot of really talented guys, but figuring out how to use them best, that's going to take a while. There are a lot of different things to consider - dual lineups, conference and sectional, even who has a shot at getting second-day swims at state."

One bright plot point came from sophomore Paul Ponte, voted swimmer of the meet by his teammates for having won the 100-yard backstroke in 56.94. It was an especially welcome result from a team standpoint, as it will help solidify one of the few events in which the Vikes might have seemed vulnerable.

Even Ponte was surprised by what the clock was telling him after the race.

"Shocked, actually," he said. "I was thinking it was probably a 59 - that's how it felt to me - so yes, very pleasantly surprised."

Rolling Meadows junior Josh Dellorto won a pair of races. His 1:46.54 in the 200 free broke the pool record, and he took top honors in the 100 fly in 53.10.

Dellorto said he was glad to get the high school season going, and that he was pleased with the results - but also that he prefers not to put too much emphasis on any single race.

"I try not to think too far ahead, because it just tends to make me nervous," he said. "But this was a good way to get started."

Fremd senior Nick Seroni was just behind Dellorto in a strong runner-up swim in the 200 free (1:46.75) and later was a winner in the 100 free (50.00).

Vikings senior Arnas Maciunas excelled in winning both the 200 IM (2:05.76) and the 100 breast (1:03.32). Senior Nick Nevins came up with a second-place finish in the 100 fly (54.54.10) and had two legs on winning relays, including a brisk 21.87 leadoff split for the 200 free relay.

Fremd's Zach Mega wowed the home crowd with a 266.75 to win diving easily, and the Vikes' Danny Konishi won the 50 free (23.18).

Rolling Meadows junior Nate Pardini won the 500 free (5:25.60), and senior Filip Pancerz was second in the 100 back and third in the 100 fly.

The Mustangs had a nice finish to the meet with a 400 free relay of Jake Pors, Pardini, Pancerz and Dellorto, second in 3:25.40. All are returners from last year's quartet.

"Toward the end of last season, I think we started to realize it could be something special," said Pancerz of the 400 relay. "So I think we've all been looking forward to keeping that going and seeing what we can do with it this year."

For Chiappetta, the meet was especially entertaining. She's on a first-name basis with many of Fremd's swimmers as a result of non-high school coaching and was able to enjoy the cascade of information on several levels.

"It's funny," she said. "From this first meet, there are always a few swimmers disappointed that they didn't hit lifetime bests. I get that on a certain level, but I'm a much bigger believer in making apples-to-apples comparisons. And across the board, we were much better today than we were in our first meet last year. How can you be disappointed with that?"

The season continues for Fremd with a Saturday dual at Lake Forest. That meet will feature a different lineup - thus a whole new data set.

Seroni is looking forward to seeing this experiment continue.

"I was just thinking about the seniors that were the leaders when I was freshmen, and how great they were in that role," he said. "We have so many new kids on the team, and everybody's doing a great job. Everybody's excited and enthusiastic. So hopefully I can help keep us organized, and do all the kinds of things our younger guys can look up to - like cheering and yelling my head off when we're racing."

Hersey d. Conant: The visiting Huskies came up with a victory in the meet-ending 400 free relay, which proved to be the difference in a 94-92 victory.

Josh Irvine, Nick Pauwels, Jack Blumenfeld and Michael Petro finished in 3:36.62, giving the Huskies an 8-6 scoring edge in that event.

Petro, a junior, won the 200 IM (1:59.85) the 100 fly (52.11) and also had a leg on the winning medley relay. Irvine won both distance freestyles, Stephen Hahn won the 100 back and Spencer Burkhalter won the 100 breast.

Conant senior Cole Aykroid soard to 302.25 in winning diving. Other Cougars wins came in the 50 free (Justin Lim, 23.00), the 100 free (Yuriy Yatskiv, 54.68) and the 200 free relay.

Prospect d. Palatine: The defending MSL East champs were sharp in their debut as Prospect handled Palatine 126.5-58.5 in a meet held at Buffalo Grove.

Prospect won all three relays and got the meet started with a 1-2-3 finish in the medley.

Matt Inserra was a double individual winner for Prospect in the 50 free (22.52) and 100 fly (58.66), and the Knights also got wins in diving from Anthony Liva (263.15), in the 100 free from Dan Macina (54.16) and in the 100 back from Alex Jarosz (1:02.33).

Palatine's Alex Bartosik came out on top in the 200 IM (2:01.65) and 100 breast (1:02.97), and the Pirates' Jake Klein won the 500 free (5:10.66) and 200 free (1:53.56).

Schaumburg d. Wheeling: The visiting Saxons got off to a winning start with a 104-79 victory over the host Wildcats.

Schaumburg got a big 1-2-3 finish in the 200 free from Matt Kelland (2:00.21), Matt Soltau and Matteas Arostegui. Other Saxons winners were Tyler Reynolds (200 IM, 2:13.74), Brandon Nyborg (diving) and the 400 free relay of Kelland, Reynolds, Arostegui and Soltau (3:39.04).

Wheeling had double winners in Jacob Gorenyuk (50 free, 100 fly) and Nick Konstantos (100 breast, 100 free), and single victories from Ricky Reeve (500 free) and Michael Burke (100 back).

Barrington d. Buffalo Grove: The host Broncos won all the swimming events to claim a 136-50 victory over the Bison.

Double individual winners for Barrington were Max Gersten (200 IM, 100 breast) and Colin O'Leary (100 fly, 100 back).

John Lagoni won the 200 free (1:51.83), Andrew Fish won the 50 free (23.20) and Jack Hoppe won the 500 free (4:56.85).

Buffalo Grove senior Jack Delattre was tops in diving at 216.70.

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