Fremd's fierce effort sinks Barrington

After Friday's big Mid-Suburban West swimming and diving meet, Barrington senior Mitch Gavars was leading the Broncos around the pool deck for the required hand-shake with host Fremd.

There were smiling faces for both teams after a collective performance that would please any fan of the aquatic arts.

Gavars summed up the mood in the hand-shake line by chanting, to each Fremd swimmer he greeted, "Swimming!"

Fremd's smiles, however, might have been a bit broader than Barrington's.

Coach Kristen Newby's Vikings won a great matchup 95-91, keeping their dual meet record perfect and positioning them to clinch the West Division title with one more meet left on the schedule next Friday.

"We love Barrington," explained Fremd senior Nick Seroni, who won the 100 fly in a season-best 51.26 and took second to Gavars in the 200 free. "We know they're going to bring out the best in us."

It turns out the phenomenon is mutual.

"I found out this afternoon I was getting Seroni in the 200," said Gavars. "And I'm like, 'I've gotta be ready for that one.' Sometimes I think the kind of friendly competition we have with them is the best kind - very positive all the way around."

In a meet in which almost every winning time was also a pool record, especially positive was Gavars' winning 200 free time of 1:44.62, not far from his lifetime best. He also came up with a great leadoff leg of the 400 free relay (48.41) and won the 500 free (4:57.13).

Fremd was able to win every event except the distance freestyles and the 100 backstroke, where Barrington senior Colin O'Leary won in 52.70.

The Broncos were able to keep pace by maintaining a clear edge in the second-through-fifth finishes. Fremd needed to win the last race, the 400 free relay, to assure itself of a victory. Nick Nevins, Seroni, Alex Schillinger and Danny Konishi got the job done in 3:15.27.

Konishi won the 50 free (22.74), Nevins won the 100 free (47.47.56) and Zach Mega won diving (239.10).

Junior Alex Schillinger excelled for Fremd, winning the 200 IM in 2:01.70. He also won the 100 breaststroke in 59.61 - bettering an individual state-qualifying standard for the first time.

"My dad was talking to me about it, and I think he was right," Schillinger said. "When you get to a certain level, it's not so much about where you're at physically. It's more of a mental thing, just having that confidence - knowing that you can do it.

"But whatever I was able to accomplish individually is dwarfed by what we were able to do as a team."

Among the eye-opening efforts for coach John Valentine's Barrington team were Jack Hoppe's runner-up efforts in both the 200 IM (2:03.46) and the 100 breast (1:02.25). And senior John Lagoni was second in the 100 free (48.96) and third in the 200 free (1:48.13).

O'Leary, a senior, said Barrington appreciated the opportunity to sharpen its racing skills at Fremd.

"Time-wise, we're all pretty happy with today," he said. "And we all know we're going to race each other again at conference and then the sectional, and we'll be looking forward to that."

Fremd senior Arnas Maciunas placed second in the 500 free (5:00.84) and had a leg on the winning 200 free relay. The meet's outcome made for a nice 18th birthday present for him, and he says team bonding is what's changed most since the season began.

"You get all the training together, and then you have a meet like this against Barrington, it just forces you to pull together. There's no other way," Maciunas said. "We're all connected now."

"We got what we wanted," said Nevins, whose 100 freestyle time was a lifetime best. "We're still unbeaten in duals."

Rolling Meadows d. Wheeling: The host Mustangs got winning individual efforts from junior Josh Dellorto in the 200 free (1:45.72) and 100 free (48.13) in a 116-69 victory.

Dellorto teamed up with Jake Pors, Nate Pardini and Filip Pancerz to win both the 200 free relay (1:33.19) and 400 free relay (3:24.55).

Other Mustangs wins came from Pors (200 IM, 2:09.82), Pancerz (100 fly, 54.59) and Pardini (50 free, 23.55).

Wheeling got victories from senior Ricky Reeve in the 500 free (5:07.29) and 100 back (1:01.76) and from Nick Konstantos in the 100 breast (1:08.24).

Schaumburg d. Conant: The Saxons came up with a 1-3 finish in the 400 free relay to earn a 97-88 win over the Cougars.

Schaumburg's top 400 free relay of Samuel Chen, Matteas Arostegui, Tyler Reynolds and Matt Kelland won in 3:35.97.

In the previous event, the 100 breaststroke, Schaumburg got a 1-2 finish from Andrew Jun (1:09.62) and Arostegui (1:09.96).

The Saxons counted individual wins from Reynolds in the 200 IM (2:10.20), Kelland in the 200 free (1:54.74), Matt Soltau in the 100 free (51.16) and Joseph Kula in the 100 back (1:03.14).

Justin Lim was a double winner for Conant, taking the 50 free (22.80) and the 100 fly (55.37), and Cole Aykroid won diving with 274.45.

Prospect d. Buffalo Grove: The Knights are within one win of an unbeaten run through the Mid-Suburban East after handling the visiting Bison 109-77.

Senior Matt Inserra won the 50 free (22.36) and 100 free (50.30) and had legs on two winning relays.

Other individuals to finish first for Prospect included Nick Partipilo in the 200 IM (2:10.24), Asher Ginnodo in the 100 back (59.37) and Jacob Kosinski in the 100 breast (1:01.89). Both also had two winning relay efforts.

Buffalo Grove's Daniel Verdico was a winner in the 200 free (1:54.15) and 500 free (5:02.65), Mark Poirier won the 100 fly (57.71) and Jack Dellatre was tops in diving (276.85).