Lopez happily returns to his Prospect roots
It didn't take Alfonso Lopez all that long to get right back where he started.
Lopez, who anchored Prospect's state-qualifying medley relay as a senior in 1999, is coaching the Knights the winter.
He spent last boys season at St. Viator, where he got good results and helped develop a promising group of athletes.
He's just coming off coaching the Prospect girls in the fall season, and also had a positive experience there, with the Knights delivering nearly best times across the board at the sectional meet.
And now, he's coaching the very team he performed for not too long ago.
This year's edition of Prospect's boys team can't be expected to match the ones in '98 and '99, when individual standout Tim Weidner along with Joe Kelley, Paul Cerwin and Lopez made appearances at the state meet.
But Lopez is aiming high in hopes of getting some Prospect swimmers back to the big stage.
"The team is very focused and looking for great things this season," Lopez said. "Obviously the MSL East title is something we are aiming for as a team, and a strong showing at both conference and sectionals as a team as well. We're looking for success from top to bottom - personal bests, dual meet victories, high placing at invitationals and championship meets and hopefully some new school records and state medalists along the way."
Last year's team featured a pair of standout seniors, butterflyer Charlie Mau and breaststroker Andrew Bowman. The good news for the Knights is they've got two proven state meet performers in seniors Tyler Bengtsen (breaststroke, sprints) and Joe Lakner (backstroke, sprints).
Prospect just missed breaking the school record in the medley relay last season, and that's among the records Lopez hopes will be broken this winter. Kelly, Weidner, Cerwin and Lopez hold the mark, 1:39.16, set in 1998.
In the meantime, Lopez is just enjoying being in a place he knows so well.
"This is probably the most exciting opportunity I have had in my coaching career, to come back to my alma mater and help build Prospect's swimming programs," he said. "The most exciting part is seeing the discipline and drive of the swimmers already in beginning of the season."
They're back: Here's a brief rundown of the area's returning state qualifiers (either individually or on relays):
Barrington: Greg Alexander, Dan Comyn, Leo Hayden
Fremd: Sean Gonzalez, Brandon Trostrud, Jeff Freund, Dustin Anderson
Prospect: Tyler Bengtsen, Joe Lakner
Buffalo Grove: Brad Lotzer
Schaumburg: Ben Epperly
Conant: Ryan Chiero
So long: Barrington, Fremd were especially hard-hit by the graduation of prominent seniors.
The Vikes lost individual point-scorers Sam Childs, Varun Shivakumar and state qualifiers Evan Ruggiero and Brent Caras.
Schaumburg lost point-scorer Chris Corbett and state performers Aaron Johnson, Mike Kehoe and Anthony Darovec.
Barrington will need to make do without four-year standouts Justin Yu and Brian Marko plus Eric Clement and Mike Byron.
The good news for all of those program is that others are striving to meet the standards they've set.
"It makes it so much easier when you have swimmers like that in the program," said Barrington coach John Valentine. "The other kids, they really benefit from having that example set for them."
New Trier: The Trevians won their third state title in the last four years last season and their fourth in the last six. The key returners for them are senior Sam Metz and sophomore Nick Killeen.
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