Boyle leads eight Neuqua Valley qualifiers
Connor Boyle was pleased with how Saturday's sectional went.
And not just for himself.
Boyle, a Neuqua Valley junior, won two individual events and was part of a relay win. It added up to a big day for the Wildcats.
"Not only for myself, but the rest of the team did amazing," Boyle said. "We got eight qualifiers. That's awesome."
Boyle's performance was one of the highlights from Saturday's Metea Valley sectional, a meet won by Naperville Central (301 points). Waubonsie Valley (286) was second followed by Plainfield North (262) and Neuqua Valley (255.5). It's Naperville Central's eighth sectional title since 2010.
Boyle, third at state in the 200 free last year, came into the weekend with the state's second-best time of 45.05 seconds. He bettered that by going 44.96. Boyle had the third-best 50 free of 20.73 coming in, but again topped it with a 20.43. He teamed up with Jimmy Senese, Tim Karubas and Alex Dunn to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:25.19.
"Personally I think I did really well, technique-wise," Boyle said. "I've been improving throughout the season and it showed today, especially in the 100 free both in the open race and the relay. I'm definitely hoping to squeeze out a win in the 50 free next week, we'll see about the 100. I think I have a shot after today."
Naperville Central got a win from Andrew Dai in the 100 butterfly, who also took second in the 200 IM. Teammate Owen Codo was second in the 100 butterfly.
Lucas Conrads highlighted Waubonsie's day, bettering his 200 free seed time by almost four seconds for a win in 1:41.61. He also took second in the 500 free.
"A really good event," Conrads said of the 200 free. I kind of held it back a little bit. I knew if I go out too fast it would affect me at state. I felt really good between the 50s."
Waubonsie's Brian Knothe took second in the 100 breaststroke and Aayush Deshpande, who came in with the top seed time, took third in the 100 butterfly.
For Naperville North, Grant Bochenski won the 100 backstroke and was second in the 100 free and Cole McBride won the diving competition.