Scouting DuPage County boys swimming
Top area teams: Neuqua Valley, Naperville North, Naperville Central, Waubonsie Valley, Hinsdale Central.
Top area swimmers: Neuqua Valley: Brian Alden, sr.; Kevin Overholt, jr.; Chris Murray (diver), sr.; Brad Kay, sr.; Ryan Farmer, sr.; John Mikuzis, jr.; Mike Lehman, jr.; Naperville North: Conor Handley, sr.; Jackson Hill, sr.; Will Heidler, so.; Naperville Central: Tyler Hsieh, sr.; Bobby Rickert, sr.; Ben Reasons, jr. Waubonsie Valley: Jack Poletto, jr.; Jim Zuponeck, jr. Wheaton Co-op: Dan Doran, sr.; Brian Sivak, jr.; Carl Sveen, jr; Hinsdale Central:
Key dates: Feb. 1-2, conference meets; Feb. 15-16 sectionals; Feb. 22-23 state meet at Evanston Township High School.
Scouting report: At last year's state meet four teams from DuPage County finished in the top 10, while five others scored. Only Neuqua Valley, a contender for this year championship, escaped heavy graduation losses. So while there is a great deal of potential among the other swim teams, there are still a lot of question marks.
Naperville North, which tied Neuqua for the third-place trophy, has a strong lineup at the top led by the "H" boys, state-qualifiers Handley, Hill and Heidler, but the depth that was the hallmark of last year's team is gone with last year's great senior class. "Last year was great for us," said Naperville North coach Kurt Johns. "That senior class helped restore the respect Naperville North has had over the years as a perennial top-10 finisher. This year we have good, solid kids, who can return us to that status if they push themselves and things come together at the right time. The key to the season will be if they can step up."
Naperville Central's losses included Brett Lullo, the state champ in both the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly, but the Redhawks are used to restocking on the fly and seem to come up with a competitive team every year despite the graduation losses. "I like what I see so far," said Naperville Central coach Mike Adams. "We have a lot of potential, but we'll find out."
Last year was disappointing for a young Waubonsie Valley group, but a deep and versatile core of returning veterans led by Poletto and Zuponeck point to better results this time around.
"We're still young, but the kids are more mature and they're motivated," said coach Chad Ganden. "While Neuqua Valley is at the head of our conference, I still think we can make it back into the top 10 at state."
Wheaton Co-op is another team that suffered growing pains last year, but coach Jacob Ayers is looking forward to a big year and believes the team has the bodies and the talent to compete for the DuPage Valley championship.
Benet graduated a senior class that led the Redwings to a 13th-place finish at state, and coach Mike Rigali believes his talented, but small in numbers crew will lead the efforts to build on the foundation that's been laid the past few years.
Hinsdale Central coach Corky King was not happy with the team's showing at state, but he's looking for the Red Devils to return to their usual place in the top 10 behind the likes of Morimoto and Smith.
Hinsdale South graduated one of its best classes ever but will build behind Jung, Abraham and Dyson, who was second at state in diving as a freshman.
"We've won conference the past six years, and this year's team doesn't want to be the one that drops the ball," said Hornets coach Frank Kuchta. "With the development of our younger guys, a 12-15 finish at state would be realistic."
Downers Grove North will be led by Sims, one of the young stars in Illinois, who finished fourth in the 500 freestyle and ninth in the 200 freestyle. The Trojans lost a lot of top performers from last year's squad and this year's team will be long on potential but short on experience.
Returning boys swimming top 6 finishers from DuPage County
1. Kevin Overholt, Neuqua Valley (2nd, 200 free)
2. Conor Handley, Naperville North (3rd, 200 IM; 100 free)
3. Brian Alden, Neuqua Valley (1st, 50 free; 1st, 100 free)
4. Daniel Jung, Hinsdale South (5th, 50 free)
5. Jordan Dyson, Hinsdale South (2nd, diving)
6. Chris Murray, Neuqua Valley (6th, diving)
7. Burke Sims, Downers North (4th, 500 free)
Scoring big points