Plenty at stake for Conant, Fremd
Conant has already clinched at least a share of the Mid-Suburban West title in boys swimming, but Friday's dual against Fremd still has plenty of importance.
For one, the Cougars would relish an outright championship, which they'd wrap up by beating the visiting Vikings today.
Conant surprised Barrington on Dec. 11, and neither team has lost in divisional action since. Barrington soundly beat Fremd in their dual, so it figures that that Conant should handle Fremd.
Not so fast.
Both teams have top front-line talent, with Ryan Chiero and Will Landgren setting the pace for Conant, and Dustin Anderson and Jeff Freund leading the way for Fremd.
As is often the case in duals, this one will likely come down to how the second-tier and third-tier swimmers perform, exactly how the relays match up and how diving breaks down.
There's also no small amount of pride at stake. No one can remember that last time Fremd had 2 dual losses to a West foe in the same season, so beating Conant has become important to the Vikings.
"It matters," said Fremd coach Nicole LaBeau. "We know they beat Barrington, and of course we lost to Barrington. It's a chance for us to prove we can compete and perform."
Whatever happens against Fremd, it's still been a breakout season for Conant. Since beating Barrington, the Cougars answered their only close challenge in a dual at Palatine, and last weekend won the Hersey Invitational.
Swimmers such as Victor Lim, Anton Andonov, Matt Ebert and Alan Wojciechowski give Drenth not only quality depth, but the kind of versatility that comes in mighty handy in a dual.
"Against Fremd," Drenth said after the Hersey victory, "all of us need to do our best."
The chase is on: In an effort to instill more competitive hunger in her team, Fremd coach Nicole LaBeau has been experimenting with a drill called "Chase."
In it, swimmers in a given lane are arranged slowest to fastest. The faster swimmers' goal is to catch the slower ones up ahead, and once that happens, the rules of the game tend to get a little murky.
"No one likes to get caught," LaBeau said.