How do you spell team? Try S-t-e-v-e-n-s-o-n
The sport of swimming is not always viewed as a team sport.
Typically individual performances are lauded far more than a team's performance.
But the team concept dynamic has not been lost on the Stevenson Patriots this winter. The group does not feature the big-name star sure to bring home a gold medal at the state meet in two weeks.
What the Patriots do have is depth - quality depth, and plenty of it. Using every bit of that depth and riding the wave of the team concept, the host Patriots captured their first North Suburban Conference title since 2005 on Saturday in Lincolnshire.
Stevenson totaled 317 points to hold off four-time champion and runner-up Lake Forest (278). Libertyville swam to third with 220 points, followed by Mundelein (160) and Warren (155.5).
"This was a total team win for us," Stevenson coach Greg Hartman said. "We just had so many great efforts on a number of different fronts."
Hartman singled out juniors Eric Shtivelberg in the 100 butterfly and Adam Slodowy in the 100 breaststroke as key point scorers for the Patriots. Senior Chris Wiatr in the 200 freestyle and freshman Ryota Kuwhara in the butterfly were also big contributors.
"Those four guys there really stepped up for us," Hartman said. "We had a lot of guys come out and achieve a lot today with some lifetime bests. Now it's on to the next step (sectionals) next week."
Senior diver Matt Stiefel was the lone Stevenson champion. His 383.8 points were more than good enough for the title ahead of Libertyville's Todd Kelley (339.75.)
The four-time defending champion Scouts captured two of the three relays and earned individual titles in five events.
Lake Forest junior Mitch Stoehr captured two individual titles - in the 100 free (46.27) over Patrick Falconer of Mundelein (48.01) and the 200 freestyle (1:40.48), also over Falconer (1:43.78).
Stoehr's effort in the 200 freestyle established a pool record, breaking the mark set by former Scout Sammy Kintz.
One team that certainly disrupted the Scouts' day was Libertyville. Having only seven available swimmers including senior Will Mallane - who didn't even know he would be swimming on the varsity until late Friday - the Wildcats still put up impressive numbers.
Mullane filled in for senior Brian Coughlin, who was suffering from the flu, and he did so with at a very high level. Mullane led off the Wildcats' 200 medley relay in the backstroke leg and helped Ben Snader, Andrew Tillman and Brad Ostmeyer to a season-best time of 1:41.19.
Mullane came back and swam to an impressive second place in the 100 backstroke in a personal-best time of 56.71.
"Coach texted me during chemistry class yesterday and told me I might have to swim on varsity today," Mullane said. "This was also the first time that I wore a leg suit too. I was nervous but I just didn't try and think about it."
Mullane was just one of many Wildcats stars. But the biggest was senior Ben Glick, who captured titles in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. In the fly, Glick's leg cramped up, but it didn't matter as he still won by nearly a second over Kuwahara.
"My leg cramped up bad during the fly so I had to use my arms primarily," Glick said. "Watching this team with just seven guys come here and do this kind of damage was just incredible."
Snader was the only other individual champion for Libertyville, as he edged out Jason Lenz of Vernon Hills to win the breaststroke in a personal-best 1:02.3.
Libertyville took honors in the 200 freestyle relay, edging Lake Forest. Snader, Glick, Ostmeyer and Chris Marr swam to a season-best 1:29.25.
The best finish of the afternoon for Warren came from Danny Conway. His 4:52.12 clocking in the 500 freestyle was good for second to Sheng Hu of Lake Forest (4:48.67). Conway also finished third in the 200 individual medley in 2:05.51.