Boys swimming: St. Charles East Upstate Eight champ
All season, St. Charles East's boys swim team has been the dominant squad in the Upstate Eight Conference, and the Saints showed their firepower again on Saturday at the conference meet hosted by St. Charles North.
The Saints won both levels of the meet by nearly identical scores. The varsity won 327.5-289.5 while the junior-varsity won 331-288. At each level, St. Charles North finished second.
"What's good is that they didn't get mad about not swimming their best. We know we have some things we need to fix before sectionals. It was a good meet for us," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "
St. Charles East's Charlie Young III starred on the junior-varsity level and was part of the team-wide cheering section when not in the water.
"We looked really good on both levels, especially on the varsity level with the untapered guys," Young said. "We look good heading toward the sectional. We're a very tight-knit group - we're brothers."
Starting with Joseph Scimeca's diving victory in the morning, the Saints won the 50 freestyle through Matt Nagler. John Cranfill won the 100 butterfly, Kyle Dunlap claimed the 100 freestyle, Kyle Lewarchick won the 500 freestyle and Nick Boryk won the 100 backstroke. The Saints also won both freestyle relays.
St. Charles North opened the swimming portion of the meet with victory in the 200 medley relay. William Myhre set conference and pool records in winning the 200 IM (1:52.30) and the 100 breaststroke (51.18.) Ricky Williams gained the North Stars' other event victory in the 200 freestyle.
"We just ran out of guys who could race (St. Charles East's) guys with speed," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "We ran a really mixed-up lineup with guys swimming different races to see if we could sneak one out. We had a really good meet for what we did."
West Chicago-Batavia finished third ahead of Bartlett-Streamwood and West Aurora in a tight cluster in the middle of the conference standings. West Chicago-Batavia got a fourth-place finish from Keegan Hawkins in the 200 IM and a sixth-place finish from Garret Sims in the 100 backstroke.
"It's good for the varsity boys to see the JV boys end the year on a good note. I'm happy with our relays placing in the top three," West Chicago-Batavia coach Nicole Luedtke said. "
Bartlett-Streamwood's top finishes came in the 50 freestyle, where Truman Jacobson and Kyle Grossman finished fourth and fifth, respectively. James Doromal was fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
"Our JV kids swam lifetime bests across the board. We have a young crew, a couple of seniors but mainly freshmen and sophomores. I think we're headed in the right direction," Bartlett-Streamwood coach Jeremy Meserole said. "
West Aurora had a breakout performance from Owen Zant, who was second in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 200 freestyle. Tyler McLaren was third in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 200 IM.
"That'll set (Zant) up for sectionals. That's his fastest time this season," West Aurora coach Chris Ranallo said. "(McLaren) is a junior and he's been through this before and he knows what he has to do."
South Elgin was sixth but Alan Romanowski was sixth in the 100 freestyle. Elgin was seventh and saw Jakob Woerner finish second in the 100 butterfly.