Patridge wishes Mom a happy birthday with record

Stevenson senior Duncan Partridge's mother hoped her son would swim well on her birthday Thursday.

He ended up with a record-setting performance.

Partridge's time of 46.07 in the 100-yard freestyle broke a 20-year old school record set by Steve Leissner (46.54). Partridge already has the school record in the 50 freestyle (21.22 ).

"I've been looking at this leader board for four years," Partridge said. "I was worried I went out a little slow, but when I hit the wall and saw the time I felt great."

Stevenson rolled to a 124-59 victory over visiting Vernon Hills.

Partridge had hoped to break the record earlier this season against Warren but fell just short.

"I was nervous after having a pretty bad race last time," Partridge said. "To break a 20-year old record means so much."

Coach Susan Whitehouse said Partridge was in form the entire race.

"He was able to push the third 25," she said. "It was exciting that he was able to do it at home."

Whitehouse experimented a bit with her lineup.

"This is one of the last times we'll try a bunch of different things," she said. "We did pretty well (considering) they're still tired from last week and we haven't had an easy day yet."

Junior Ty Kuper usually swims longer events, but he did well in the 100 freestyle. His time of 51.16 was good for second, more than seven seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Kuper, who was second in the 200 freestyle, was excited to swim a shorter event.

"I've wanted to move toward sprinting, but we have some amazing sprinters," Kuper said. "I can't move now, but (maybe) next year."

Added Whitehouse: "Ty has really gotten himself back on top of the water. He's looking really good."

Stevenson's Jamie Clark placed first in the 200 freestyle (1:51.69) and 100 butterfly (59.08). In diving, Stevenson's Matt Stiefel (186.15) and Vernon Hills' Zachary Kisley (141.95) were first and second, respectively.

A highlight for Vernon Hills was the performance of Mike Schock in the 500 freestyle. He placed first with a time of 5:25.12.

"He dropped a full 15 seconds off a tapered swim last year," coach Kedric Greenawalt said. "He's one of those kids that does a lot of things well. He hadn't found his niche, but he said he likes the 500 (freestyle). This swim gave him a lot of confidence."

Vernon Hills' Cliff Nelson (1:58.33) broke the 2:00 mark in the 200 freestyle for the first time.

"He really nailed that swim," Greenawalt said. "It was great for him to get over that hump."

Vernon Hills' Kevin Lee was impressive in the 100 butterfly (1:03.10).

"This was the first time he swam the 100 butterfly in two years and he dropped an incredible amount of time," Greenawalt said.