Boys swimming: Mundelein prevails in familiar matchup with Warren
Usually it's the team members who are quick to circle those key dates on the upcoming schedule.
But in the case of the Mundelein and Warren boys swimming and diving teams, it was both coaches who perhaps held the most anticipation heading into Thursday evening's North Suburban Conference dual meet on Senior Night in Mundelein.
"We're great friends and neighbors, so we always like seeing how our guys do against theirs," Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna said of good friend and Blue Devils coach Chris Bertana. "You'll always see some good swims with these two teams. It's a fun but competitive meet."
Well, this time around anyway, bragging rights go to Sethna and his boys, who won the last event of the night to pull out a 95-90 victory.
Warren actually posted victories in 8 out of 12 events, but as everyone knows, it's all about depth in a dual meet. And the Mustangs came up with a key 1-2 placedment in that final event, the 400-yard free relay.
Jake Garcia, Eubin Kim, Ryan Zentz and Pat McInerney touched in 3:34.23. The quartet of Jack Long, Parker Geary, Jonathan Gustafson, and Hunter Magee were right behind in second (3:38.01).
"It's always a lot of fun going against them," said Bertana, whose team slipped to 1-2 in NSC duals. "We haven't competed since before break, so we're not quite where we want to be yet. It's just nice to get them up and racing again."
In addition to the 400 relay, Magee posted a victory in the 200 freestyle after touching in 1:55.19, with Zentz right behind in second (1:57.50). Magee also won the 100 freestyle in 51.91.
Derek Kendall then picked up a Mundelein victory when he won the 1-meter diving with 181.50 points.
Warren's Brian Tabourot picked up victories in four events.
He swam the first leg of the winning 200 medley relay, joining forces with Taylor Vander-Jeugdt, Austin Edmondson and Leo Forney to touch in 1:41.99.
Tabourot also won the 200 IM (2:06.65) and 100 backstroke (56.51) and swam anchor on the winning 200 freestyle relay with Forney, Vander-Jeugdt and Jeremy Gunter to touch in 1:32.92.
"There's a lot of friends on both sides, so this is always a fun meet for both teams," said Forney, who also won the 50 freestyle in 23.48. "I've really been working on my starts and turns and they were pretty smooth tonight. And for me, it's not winning or losing but success is measured by what you learned in the process."
Edmondson also picked up a win in the 100 butterfly (57.43), while Jack Foster was a winner in the 500 freestyle (5:20.35) and Vander-Jeugdt in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.34).
And as mentioned, it was night when Mundelein not only paid homage to its seniors, but the seniors and good friends from Warren as well.
Mustangs co-captain and four-year swimmer Jake Gonzalez has relished every moment of the journey.
"I've been waiting for this since freshman year," said Gonzalez, who finished second in the 100 butterfly (58.00) and swam the third leg of the second-place 200 medley with Parker Geary, Ben Staroszczyk, and Logan Bradshaw to touch in 1:46.62.
"You just want to go as hard as you can and make an impact because this is going to be the last time you'll swim - competitively, anyway - in your own pool."
And Sethna can't say enough about his core of seniors he'll lose to graduation.
"We're graduating a big group and these guys led by example," he said. "And whether it be the swimming, the diving, the JV - these guys were the glue that held us together and we'll miss them."