Boys swimming: Libertyville has fun with runner-up finish at Vernon Hills

Two-a-days are pretty much over, and it showed on Saturday afternoon at Vernon Hills' Cougar Classic in the fatigue factor of the boys swimmers and divers.

That rigorous training is central to the finishing stages of the season which now awaits. With just a few more weeks of meets before the end-of-season taper regimen begins, the focus will be on preparedness for the state meet, to be held at New Trier in late February.

For now, this was a fun event and a chance to get those competitive juices flowing again.

The scoring involved events featuring partners with a cumulative time deciding the finishers, as well as individual scoring in some of the events.

Plainfield North made the long trip worthwhile by collecting the first-place plaque with 102 points in the five-team field.

No stranger to having strong representation every year at state, the Tigers posted victories in six events.

Libertyville, which had a nice meet in finishing second with 89, has been solid in relays and on Saturday the Cats picked up victories in two.

Nathan Valley first led off the winning 200-yard medley relay when he paired with Billy Bennett, Lawrence Wang, and Nick Harrington to swim a 1:42.78.

That was followed by Bennett joining Sean Coughlin, Colin Miller and Austin Stevenson touching first in the 200 free relay (1:30.22).

"We're ready and really excited about our relays," said Libertyville coach Amanda Pechauer, whose team has an NSC home dual meet next Wednesday with Lake Forest. "Nothing too crazy today, though. We're just trying to stay on our times and work on some mechanics."

Bennett and Stevenson also picked up a first-place medals after combining for first in the 100 breaststroke 2:02.00.

Wang and Harrington took second in the 100 butterfly with a cumulative time of 1:52, while Valley and Wang also finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:59) and Tom Guaird and Carl Michelotti fifth in the same event (2:14).

"We're at that point in the season where it's kind of a downhill slide right now and we're trying to push through that wall and into the tapering," said Michelotti, hoping for a state berth in the backstroke and 200 medley in this his final year.

Miller and Stevenson also teamed to take second in the 200 freestyle (3:51).

Mundelein finished fourth with 51 points as Derek Kendall finished second in 1-meter diving with 311.85 points.

Hunter Magee, Eubin Kim, Ryan Zentz, and Patrick McInerney took third in the 400 free relay (3:33.96), while Parker Geary, Ben Staroszczyk, Jake Gonzalez, and Kim finished fourth in the 200 medley after touching in 1:48.40.

Magee, Zentz, Geary, and McInerney also finished fourth in the 200 free relay (1:37.47).

Just a sophomore, Geary also finished second in the 100 backstroke with a 59.45, pairing with Jeffrey Boudreau to swim a 2:04.

"I'm a little exhausted physically and mentally right now, but this is part of the whole process we go through," said Geary. "But I was pretty happy with the times, especially after swimming in back-to-back events. We're really trying for top-three in the conference and making it to state is definitely a goal."

McInerney and Danny Oleinik also picked up third-place medals after a combined 4:38 in the 200 IM.

Oleinik and Gonzalez also took third in the 100 butterfly (2:01), while Magee and Zentz finished third in the 200-freestyle (3:58).

McInerney and Chris Hill were also third in the 500 freestyle (11:03).

"Everyone's tired, but this is a great meet that showcases depth, so you need obviously top speeds but you also need to go four deep," said Mustangs coach Rahul Sethna. "And unless you're a year-round swimmer, it's harder and harder to make state cuts. We want to get close and see what we can do during the rest of the regular season."

For host Vernon Hills, Kevin Diaz made a statement by winning the 1-meter diving with 311.85 points.

"He's one of our leaders and captains and definitely has his sights set on the state meet," said Cougar coach Adam Lueken, whose guys are at Glenbrook North next Friday for a Central Suburban League dual meet.

"This is a fun meet with some of the events having partners and trying to get good cumulative times. And our distance guys are training really hard and looking to break out."

Caleb Thomson held his own, taking third in the 50 freestyle (23.75) and swimming anchor on the fifth-place 200 medley relay, where he paired with Preston Lis, Calvin Yoon, and Kevin Cronin to touch in 1:51.21.

Cronin, Thomson, Yoon, and Jackson Murrie then combined efforts to take fifth in the 200 free relay (1:37.54).

Yoon and Thomson also finished fourth in the 100-freestyle (1:43), while Travis Pak also joined Yoon to finish fifth in the 100-breaststroke with a cumulative time of 2:20.

Murrie also teamed with Antoni Okinczyc to take fifth in the 500-freestyle (11:31).

"We had a couple of personal best times last night (against Deerfield) and some times dropped today," added Lueken.