Neuqua Valley wins Metea Valley invite over DVC rivals
The Neuqua Valley boys swimming team's depth has been strong from the start of this season and was evident in the regular-season finale Saturday.
The Wildcats won the Metea Varsity Mustang Invite by 130 points over second-place Naperville North (427) and third-place Waubonsie Valley (423.50).
Four of the five top DuPage Valley Conference teams were at this competition, and it set the stage for what should be an eventful DVC meet next Saturday at Naperville North.
"It will be interesting. Waubonsie Valley, Naperville Central and Naperville North will be right there. Metea Valley is a solid team," said Neuqua coach Chad Allen. Metea finished fourth with 384 points.
With five or six heats in Saturday's individual races and three heats in the relays, coaches could give their rosters a workout. The conference meet format is different with teams allowed one entry per relay and two swimmers per individual event.
That means there's one more week of competition for lineup spots for the conference meet with some teams.
"There's no spots guaranteed. Everyone will work hard in practice," said Waubonsie's Bryan Ellig.
Neuqua won an individual race and a relay. Connor Boyle touched the wall first in the 100-yard freestyle in 47.95 seconds.
"This (meet) really helps your perspective about the conference meet," Boyle said. "It shows what it takes to compete."
The Neuqua 200 freestyle relay won in 1:27.55 thanks to John Ruan, Sathya Subramanian, Tanner Schrey and Boyle.
Naperville North got wins from Horace Qiao in the 100 butterfly in 50.83 and Noah Ellis in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.56.
"Overall, it was a good meet. The freshmen had some good swims. The freshmen reacted well to their taper and the upperclassmen are headed towards a sectional taper," said Huskies coach Andy McWhirter.
Waubonsie went home with two relays victories. Jared Simpson, Ellig, Aayush Deshpande and Jake Darlinger took the 200 medley relay in 1:35.59 and the Warriors won the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay in 3:13.66, with Deshpande, Ryan Ruhde, Brian Daugherty and Darlinger racing.
Simpson won two events - the 200 individual medley in 1:57.38 and the 100 breaststroke in 57.79. He said his favorite win was in the 100 breaststroke. He has a friendly rivalry with teammate Ellig in the event. Ellig was second in 58.83.
"I asked coach (Nick Arens) if I could race against Bryan in this event at this meet and we have the last three years. It's a friendly rivalry. We really each wanted to win and we got seasons bests," Simpson said.
Samuel Kastan of Metea Valley won the 50 freestyle in 22.01.
"Overall, it was a pretty good day. We had some good swims. We had some average swims, but nothing bad. From top to bottom, everyone did what they were supposed to at this point in the season," said Mustangs coach Mark Jager.
Metea's Alec Marquardt won the diving competition, held Friday, with 396.50 points.
Following Metea in the team standings were Oswego, Plainfield, Benet, South Elgin, West Aurora, Lincoln-Way West, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Glenbard West-South co-op.
West Aurora got a second place from Owen Zant in the 100 backstroke in 54.05 and a third-place mark from Cael McLaren in the 200 IM in 2:01.41.