Unified Saints take second in own invitational

Team unity can carry a squad a long way - and St. Charles East's boys swimming and diving put its team-based singularity on display on Saturday afternoon for the school's annual college events meet.

And the manner in which the Saints chose to demonstrate their togetherness was one that is ages-old - they died their hair. Usually a demonstration reserved for the big end of the season meets, the Saints made the move a little early this season, following their grueling Christmas break training regimen.

"We died the hair a little early this season for team bonding," St. Charles East senior Ken Tilges said. "We had a really good year, the best year since I've been here. We just decided to do it at the end."

The Saints finished second in the invitational to Lyons Township, showing that their statement of togetherness wasn't just idle chitchat.

"It's a statement," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "It was a bit of a shock at our school, hearing people say 'why did they do that?' Finally someone will ask me, and I'll say that it's a team thing."

Tilges was the Saints only event-winner when he claimed the 100-yard breaststroke title.

"I felt all right," Tilges said. "We just came off two days off of school and we were out of the water. I came in and did some yards on my own but we didn't have a team practice."

The teams behind champion Lyons were tightly bunched. The Lions scored 387 points to run away with the title. The Saints scored 249.5, while Mundelein (225), Lincoln-Way North (222.5) and Highland Park (212) were all in contention for the second spot claimed by the hosts.

"We moved up a place," Tilges said. "We were seeded third and finished second. It was a good day for all of us."

That break, due to the arctic temperatures that hit the area this week, was a bothersome - though necessary - break in training.

"You can lose your feel for the water, depending how much you swim," Tilges said. "I usually lose my feel for the water pretty quickly, and that's why I tried to come in and do some yards by myself."

The boys swimming season finally hits its stride in January, after stops for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Saints and the other teams at the meet will be hoping there aren't further breaks heading to the Feb. 27-28 state meet in New Trier. The championship season meets are just around the corner. All area conference meets take place Feb. 7.

To make up for lost time, the Saints swam 6,000 yards before they competed on Saturday.

"They're tired and we looked a little rusty from being off for the two days," Cable said. "We've got a little catching up to do. We swam four or five miles before the meet and then swam a couple of miles during the meet. That's a good day."

The Jacobs-Dundee-Crown co-op finished last of the competing six teams. The co-op struggled to get pool time during its holiday break, and the disparity in fitness levels showed on Saturday.

"We're a little behind because we didn't get the practices in that we did over Christmas the last three or four years," coop coach Rick Andresen said. "We were really limited in pool time. And then we missed practice the last couple of days with the cold weather."

Andresen said his team still enjoyed the opportunity to test itself against the college-length events, which include events that include some that are double the high school distances.

"We're trying to get an idea how they do with the longer events," Andresen said. "It's a bit of a steppingstone for where we're at in our conditioning and training."

Andresen's team had three second-place swims. Sean Kelly was second in the 100 backstroke; Nick Pankau was second in the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly.