Final Mid-Suburban League dual meets up next
Well, that was fast.
Today's meets mark the end of the Mid-Suburban League dual-meet season, and there's a nice batch of competitive matchups.
In the West, Schaumburg hosts Palatine, while Fremd aims to complete an unbeaten dual season when the Vikings travel to Hoffman Estates.
In the East, Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove - who share the facility at Elk Grove - meet for home pool bragging rights. Prospect hosts Hersey at Wheeling, and Wheeling pays a visit to Buffalo Grove.
After this weekend's meets, it's a mostly uneventful stretch of two weeks before the three-week sequence of conference, sectional and state culminates the season.
Sectional setup: The Mid-Suburban League's teams will be divided between three sectional sites for state qualifying Saturday, Feb. 28.
The entire Mid-Suburban West will gather at Barrington, along with MSL East entrants Rolling Meadows and Buffalo Grove. Joining what would already be a nice group of teams is a talented Cary-Grove squad and a Jacobs/Dundee-Crown group with several state hopefuls.
Elk Grove will join a very strong field at St. Charles East, where state trophy hopeful Marmion figures to lead the way along with both St. Charles schools.
The remainder of the area's teams - Prospect, Hersey, Wheeling, St. Viator and Maine West - make the trip to Glenbrook North, where Glenbrook South is expected to set the pace.
Looking ahead: Any fan of excellent swimming ought to be getting excited about the upcoming state meet.
The midseason times being generated by senior freestyle standouts Kevin Overholt (Neuqua Valley), Burke Sims (Downers Grove North) and Bryant Honsa (Lake Park) are staggering. In the 200 freestyle, where those three finished 2-3-4 at state last year, all three are already close to their times from last year's finals at Evanston.
A slightly faster pool at New Trier this year figures to make for both memorable racing and perhaps a few state records.
At the New Trier Relays on Jan. 17, Overholt won the 100 free in 46.27. In the same meet, he won the 200 free in 1:40.89. An effective end-of-season taper puts him within range of state records in both races.
Sims and Honsa are likely to meet again in the 500 free, where last year Honsa won in 4:28.95, with Sims close behind at 4:30.79. A strong swim by either one could threaten Brian Gunn's record of 4:25.89, set in the state prelims in 1989.
The oldest swimming state record is the 100 breaststroke time of 55.56 by Naperville North's Gianni Minnervini in 1984. It stands to reason that Peoria Richwoods sophomore phenom Matt Elliott, who won it last year in 56.95, will eventually break it.
Elliott, who competed in the Olympic Trials in the 200-meter breaststroke last summer, has already gone 58.31 in the breaststroke and 1:55.64 in the 200 IM. Or he could surprise everyone and try a different event - like the 500 free. He's already been clocked at 4:40.21 in that race.