Seniors pace Schaumburg's victory over Palatine
There was plenty for Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher to like about Friday's final dual meet of the season against visiting Palatine.
The Saxons won the meet, yes. At least as important, Schaumburg's eight seniors had a successful swan song in their home pool.
Senior Chris Corbett certainly had a race to remember in the 200-yard freestyle. As planned, after diving in, he flipped over onto his back and completed the race as a backstroker in 1:58.10, second only to junior teammate Ben Epperly.
"I just want Chris to have confidence, to know at this point of the season that he really is in good shape," said Gallagher. "This is one way of proving to him that he can really hold a race together."
Corbett later won the 100 freestyle - this time with the more conventional freestyle - in 50.88.
The Saxons, swimming a slightly changed-up lineup, had too many lifetime bests for Gallagher to quickly count in a 102-84 decision.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "It's easy to get excited when we're up against rivals like Palatine."
Winners for the Saxons included senior Aaron Johnson in the 200 IM (2:08.634), Mike Kehoe in the 50 free (24.47), Epperly in the 500 free (5:14.22) and Brad Dunn in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.79).
The Pirates, too, had their share of successes. Coach Katie Kupka got a lifetime best from Jeremy Stanton in the 100 backstroke, where he placed second in 1:03.59 to senior teammate Sebastian Dorszewski (1:00.87). Dylan Weissman had a lifetime best in winning the 100 fly (59.97), and Ian McNair won diving with a score of 182.40.
Palatine's challenge is to find a bit more sprinting speed, and Kupka is confident that will come as the season winds down.
"Good things happen to good people," she said. "We've got really good people - I'm proud of them. It was like this last year, and we got some speed at the end. They're putting in the work."
Whatever else happens the rest of the season, the Schaumburg seniors - Corbett, Johnson, Dunn, Kehoe, Anthony Darovec, Jeremy Ogorek, Eddie Walsh and Adam Coonich - are leaving a similar impression on their veteran coach.
"These guys work hard," Gallagher said. "They're really a special bunch of kids."
Fremd d. Hoffman Estates: Varun Shivakumar won the 200 IM and 400 free, and Jeff Freund won the 200 free and 100 fly as visiting Fremd wrapped up an unbeaten dual meet season with a 133-53 victory over Hoffman Estates.
Buffalo Grove d. Wheeling: The host Bison completed a perfect dual-meet run through the Mid-Suburban East with a 127-56 victory over Wheeling. Adrian Sadkowski delivered victories in the 50 free (23.12) and the 100 free (51.94) for BG.
Prospect d. Hersey: Chris Hoffman earned victories for the Knights in the 200 IM (2:15.63) and the 100 free (51.84) to lift Prospect past the visiting Huskies. Pat Chamberlain won diving with a scored of 218.45 for Hersey.