Mundelein seniors swim past Libertyville, finally
Senior athletes like to know they left their mark.
That's especially pertinent when they can say they got the upper hand on a rival, whatever the sport.
Mundelein's senior swimmers had never been a part of a victory over Libertyville.
That changed Thursday evening when the Wildcats visited for a North Suburban Conference dual.
"We've never beaten them in my time here," Mundelein senior co-captain Hunter Magee said after the Mustangs got off to a fast start and glided to a 119.5-66.5 win. "At the beginning of the season, this was one of our goals. We were stoked tonight for this meet, and (winning) serves as a momentum builder moving forward the rest of the season."
The Mundelein quartet of Jack Long, Cale Sethna, Michael Romero and Parker Geary opened the meet by winning the 200-yard medley relay in 1:44.59. Magee then did his thing, winning the 200 freestyle (1:51.20).
"We're all a little tired from winter training, but I was proud of my swims tonight," Magee said. "We've been doing a lot of endurance training. It gives us a good idea where we're at, before tapering and the state meet next month."
Magee added a victory in the 100 freestyle (51.16). He then paired with Aaron Anastos, Romero and Geary to touch first in the 200 free relay (1:32.69).
In the final event of the night, Magee swam anchor on the winning 400 free relay, joining Anastos, Long and Ryan Zentz to touch in 3:27.69.
"We're having a nice season," said coach Rahul Sethna, whose Mustangs improved to 3-1 in NSC duals. "Libertyville is such a great program, and (coach) Amanda (Pechauer) has done a great job with them."
The freshman Romero had a great night, as well winning the 200 IM (2:03.70) and the 100 breaststroke (1:04.33).
Geary took the 50 freestyle (23.50), while Anastos won the 500 freestyle (5:02.43).
Libertyville, which fell to 2-2 in NSC duals, saw Matt Neuberger (180.40) and Isaac Paul (172.55) finish 1-2, respectively, in 1-meter diving. Lawrence Wang took top honors in the 100 butterfly (53.81), and Richie Rush won the 100 backstroke (56.86).
"We had some good times tonight and over last weekend at the (New Trier) Trevian relays," Pechauer said. "We're trying some different combinations with our relays."