N. Stars 3rd in final tuneup for championship season

According to the calendar, things are about to get very serious for the state's boys swimming teams.

Saturday was the unofficial end to the area's invitational season. The next major meet for most teams comes in two weeks when conference meets begin "Championship Season."

St. Charles North finished its run of regular season meets with its annual invitational. The North Stars, locked in battle with Byron, Libertyville and Barrington all afternoon, finished third in the meet. Byron scored 244 points to win, followed by Libertyville (241) and St. Charles North (240.)

"It was a pretty fun meet," St. Charles North's Jimmy Brooks said. "We swam some of our normal races and some of our 'off' races. We had a little fun here at the end."

The North Stars next meet is the Feb. 2 Upstate Eight Conference meet at Neuqua Valley. By that time, thought processes will be turning much more toward the big meets that always punctuate the end of the season.

"This is kind of like the breaking point before the taper season comes," Brooks said. "You try to get up and go at this meet. If you can do well at this meet, it's a real good sign for the next meets."

The North Stars suffered in the 100-yard backstroke. Five total swimmers, and three St. Charles North swimmers, were disqualified in the race for the jumping manner of their entry into the water. The rules state that jumping into the water is not allowed.

"We kind of made a couple of small mistakes," Brooks said. "It's better to make small mistakes now than it is in a couple of weeks."

Dan Stanek won both his individual races for the North Stars. He tied Barrington's Sam Barnett for first place in the 200 individual medley and won the 100 breaststroke.

"I was very happy," Stanek said. "It's a good feeling on the inside that everything is starting to come together and the hard work is starting to pay off. It's starting to become evident."

Not only was the meet close on the scoreboard, but each race was marked by close competition. Very rarely did a race winner break away and dominate his opponents.

"I like it, I like the competition," Stanek said. "I do better when there's competition and when there's pressure. It's what makes the meet fun, racing people. It's what we live for."

The North Stars also won the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle relay and watched John Higgins win the disqualification-marred 100 backstroke.

"It was a pretty fun meet," St. Charles coach Rob Rooney said. "We had nice close swims between teams. Hats off to Byron."

Without competition for two weeks, the North Stars will return to a heavy training regimen in advance of the Upstate Eight meet.

"We've got a group of kids who are tough," Rooney said. "For today's society, I think they're tough. We've got to put our eye to the end here. That's been our focus all along. Things are OK here in North Star Land."