Boys swimming: Scouting the Mid-Suburban League meet

Scouting Mid-Suburban League boys swimming and diving

Where: Conant High School

When: Diving begins at 9 a.m.; swimming begins at 1 p.m.

Defending champ: Fremd

You should know: This is the first time an MSL meet has been held away from Barrington's spacious natatorium in quite some time, as the league begins to work in many of the newer pools into a conference meet hosting rotation. Seating and deck space will be very limited, so fans, competitors and coaches should adjust their personal-space and patience settings to the highest possible tolerance levels.

Team picture: The battle for the top spot figures to be between Fremd and Barrington, who both have relay strength and top-tier individuals the rest of the conference won't be able to match. Fremd won the dual meet matchup between the two 95-91 to claim the West Division title, but the format here may favor Barrington's slight edge in second-swimmer depth a bit. Both teams are anchored by superlative senior classes eager to come out on top in their final league meet, so the competition should be fierce. East Division champ Prospect also has a great senior group along with nice balance and top-six candidates throughout the lineup, while Hoffman Estates and Rolling Meadows are among the teams who figure to fare better in championship scoring thanks to fierce front-line entrants.

Individual event defending champs: Barrington's Colin O'Leary (100 back), Fremd's Nick Seroni (100 fly), Barrington's Mitch Gavars (200 and 500 free) and Conant's Cole Aykroid (diving). Seroni is also the defending champ in the 200 IM, but will race the 200 free instead this year.

Barrington's big boppers: Colin O'Leary (100 fly, 100 back), Mitch Gavars (200, 500 free), Max Gersten (200 IM, 100 breast) and John Lagoni (100, 200 free) are at the core of this year's effort; each are hoping for return trips to the state meet individually in a couple of weeks. Equally important to the Broncos' ultimate placement will be the efforts of Jack Hoppe (200 IM, 100 breast), Andrew Fish (50 free), Shawn Ujiiye (100 fly), Scott Robinson (100 free) and Riley Lehmann (500 free, 100 back).

Fremd's finest: Senior Nick Nevins is the top seed in the 50 free and the second seed in the 100 free; in those same races, junior Danny Konishi is also seeded in the top six. Senior Nick Seroni has a top seed in the fly and is in the last heat of the 200 free; junior Alex Schillinger has top seed in the breast and is the fourth seed in the IM. The other key Vikes will be Arnas Maciunas (200, 500 free), Paul Ponte (500 free, 100 back), Nick Flowers (200 IM, 100 fly), Ethan Schillinger (100 breast) and Tony Lee (100 back).

Rolling: Meadows junior Josh Dellorto has been among the best in the conference all season in the 100 and 200 freestyles; he's seeded third in both. Senior Filip Pancerz also earned top-six seeds (200 free, 100 fly). Those two, combined with Jake Pors (50 free, 100 free) and Nate Pardini (50 free, 500 free), give Meadows a couple of first-rate freestyle relays.

Seeing double: The final heat of the 200 free will include just three schools: Josh Dellorto and Filip Pancerz (Rolling Meadows), Mitch Gavars and John Lagoni (Barrington) and Nick Seroni and Arnas Maciunas (Fremd).

He's back: Hersey junior Michael Petro is the top seed in the 200 IM and the second seed in the 100 fly. A state meet qualifier his freshman year, Petro has excelled this winter. The Huskies also have Josh Irvine in top-12 seeds in the 200 and 500 frees.

Tozy time: Palatine senior Alex Bartosik (aka Tozy), a three-time state qualifier, is the Pirates' top individual and will race in the last heat of the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Also seeded in the top six for Palatine are juniors Jake Klein (500 free) and Sean O'Brien (100 back).

Hawk talk: Hoffman Estates senior Andy Hobar is seeded in the final heat of both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, and he joins Mike Polzin, Greg Baranov and Mark Heitkotter on pair of relays seeded into the top six. Heitkotter also earned top-six seeds individually in the 50 and 100 frees.

Big-heat Bison: Buffalo Grove, runner-up in the MSL East with a 4-1 dual meet record, has Daniel Verdico as the No. 3 seed in the 500 freestyle and Mark Poirier as the No. 4 seed in the 50 free.

Conant corps: Justin Lim has earned spots in the final heat of both the 100 fly and the 50 free.

Prospect's prospects: Matt Inserra is the No. 2 seed in the 50 free and also has a spot in the final heat of the 100 free, while Jacob Kosinski in the No. 3 seed in the 100 breast and Asher Ginnodo is seeded sixth in the 100 back. Along with three relays seeded in the top six, Nick Partipilo (200 IM, 100 free) and Alex Jarosz (IM, 500 free) are positioned to generate significant points.

Wheeling watch: Senior Ricky Reeve is seeded sixth in the 500 free and will take legs on all three relays. The Wildcats also have two No. 7 individual seeds - Jacob Gorenyuk in the 100 fly and Nick Konstantos in the 100 breast - and a medley relay seeded fourth.

Board meeting: Diving is loaded with competitors who have state meet aspirations. Conant senior Cole Aykroid leads the way, but it's truly a great collection this year with Buffalo Grove's Jack Delattre and Matt Misch, Prospect's Anthony Liva, Fremd's Zach Mega, Barrington's Steven Latimer, Palatine's Joseph Zhao and Hersey's Nicholas Nocita among the best of the best.

Multi-taskers: Conant's Aykroid set an MSL record while winning diving last year; this year he's regularly taken legs on Conant's 200 free relays. Similarly, Palatine junior Campbell Boston will dive and also is entered in the 50 free and the Pirates' 200 free relay.

Finally: Neither Elk Grove nor Schaumburg has an individual entrant seeded in the top six, but both have legit top-six hopefuls. The Grens' Adrian Wlodarz is seeded eighth in the 200 IM and 12th in the 500 free, while Schaumburg's Matt Soltau is seventh in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free, and Tyler Reynolds is eighth in the 100 fly and 10th in the 200 IM.

- Aaron Gabriel