Barrington, Yu claim Mid-Suburban League championship

It would be a mistake to consider Barrington's victory in Saturday's Mid-Suburban League meet lucky. But Broncos coach Jim Bart was keenly aware that things went just about perfectly in his home pool.

"It's big for us, especially heading into sectionals," said Bart, who again next week will assume the role of host in state qualifying. "This was a great weekend for us. Today was a good day to be a Bronco."

Especially if your name happened to be Justin Yu. The Barrington senior won the 100-yard freestyle (47.33), the 200 free (1:46.13) and had legs on two winning relays.

The Broncos amassed 305 points to earn a decisive win over runner-up Fremd (242). Prospect and Schaumburg tied for third at 147, and Buffalo Grove (133) edged Conant (114) for fifth.

"It was a pretty emotional day for us," said Yu. "You know, last conference meet for the seniors, you want things to go well. We were excited.

"The Fremd guys are great - great competitors, great sportsmen. You know, I'm up there in my races against Sam Childs - he's a state finalist. It's kinda scary, to tell the truth. So to win feels pretty good."

Other keys for Barrington were victories from sophomore Greg Alexander in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.96) and a second-place finish from senior Brian Marko in the 100 fly. Those two also combined to finish 3-4 in the 200 IM.

Another crucial event was the 50 free, where Barrington senior Eric Clement won in 22.22, just ahead of sophomore teammate Dan Comyn (22.49).

Also significant was the performance of Barrington's Alex Anderson. Fully rested for this meet, he placed fifth in the 100 free and had a leg on the 400 freestyle relay - courtesy of teammate Comyn, who volunteered to step aside and allow Anderson, who won't participate in sectionals, one final bonus swim. His teammates selected Anderson as their athlete of the meet.

"We talk a lot about character, so that was really great to see," said Bart, drying off after his swimmers gave him an impromptu post-meet dunking. "We've had our share of bumps along the way this season, so it's good to see things kind of come together."

Fremd wasn't pleased to yield the conference championship to Barrington, but the Vikings had plenty of their own swims to be pleased with. Senior Varun Shivakumar won the 100 backstroke (53.19) in a time faster than he delivered at last year's state meet, and he also placed second in the 200 IM (2:00.14).

Another bright spot was sophomore Jeff Freund, who won the 500 free (4:56.81) and delivered big team points with a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly (56.17).

Fremd had mostly best times - but on this day, at least, Barrington's were just a bit better in most cases.

"Physically, we're right where we need to be," said Fremd coach Nicole LaBeau. "Mentally, hey, it was a long week for us. But that's part of the taper, too, being at your overall best at the end.

"I think our guys were disappointed and a little bit down through the first half of the week, but they started to enjoy themselves and just race in the second half."

Prospect used a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay to earn a tie for third place with Schaumburg. Knights senior Charlie Mau won the 100 fly in a season-best 53.45.

Saxons senior Chris Corbett won the 200 IM in a lifetime-best 1:59.16 and was second in the 100 back (53.89), and senior Aaron Johnson placed second in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.08). Combined with a medley relay that finished second and best times virtually across the board, it made for a rewarding day for Schaumburg.

"We're real pleased with how we swam," said Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher. "Now it's just a matter of swimming fast on a couple more weekends."

Buffalo Grove used a second-place finish from Brad Lotzer in the 100 free, a surprising sixth-place finish by Matt Block in the 500, strong relay finishes and 17 season-best swims - all of which tempered coach Jamie Klotz' disappointment as he calculated how many points were lost in a pair of Bison disqualifications.

"We had some phenomenal swims," said Klotz. "We're still getting a little better each time out."

Keys to Conant's finish were Jacob Jeske (third in the 100 breaststroke), Brett Johnsen (third in the 100 fly) and Ryan Chiero (third in the 50 free, fourth in the 100 free).

Brian Brajczewski's second-place effort in the 500 free (4:59.11) and Alex Jessee's fourth-place finish in the 200 free (1:49.07) helped Hoffman Estates into seventh place with 94 points.

"Overall, we're in a good spot," said Hoffman Estates coach Josh Schumacher. "We're hitting the times we need to be at. Now it's just time to get the little things right."