Black, Mundelein come of age at Lake Forest
About the only thing Mundelein freshman Connor Black had to be concerned about on Saturday was the cool breeze hitting the back of his head as he headed into the Lake Forest swimming pool for the sectional meet.
It seems that Black is more of a fan of longer hair, and his new 'do just didn't feel right on a cold February afternoon.
"I like to wear my hair long, so this is something I have to get used to," Black said as he rubbed his hands over his tightly cut hair. "It's not that bad I guess."
Something the North Suburban Conference and the rest of the area will have to get used to is Black. In his first sectional meet, Black made a huge statement that he is ready to send up many hair-raising performances, much like he did Saturday.
To qualify for one race at the state swimming and diving championships next Friday would have been great for a freshman. But to do it in four races and do it in such dominant fashion is pretty incredible.
Black qualified for state in two relays and two individual events to highlight a sensational afternoon for the Mundelein boys swimming team.
"That 200 medley relay really got it all going for us as a team," Black said of the Mustangs' state qualifying swim in the opening race of the meet. "It just gave all of us such an energy to race and compete - it was amazing."
Black was "amazing" in his first race of the meet - the 200 individual medley. Leading from wire-to-wire, Black dropped an impressive five seconds off his seed time to win in a school record time of 1:57.29.
"We had a feeling he could drop the time and get to state, but that was just an impressive race by Connor," said Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna.
Black wasn't even close to being done. Some 40 minutes later, Black dropped nearly two seconds from his seed time for a second place finish in the 100 butterfly to another freshman in Warren's Matt Conway.
Then the sensational day for Black and the Mustangs got even better as Mundelein earned a pair of relay wins. Black, Jeff Anderson, Will Davidson and Michigan State-bound Pat Falconer swam to an impressive win in the 200 free relay winning in 1:27.03.
The same group minus Anderson and adding David Dickinson was terrific in capturing the 400 free relay. The 3:12.38 set a school record and makes the Mustangs serious medal contenders next week.
"Throughout the season, we know what it is we want to accomplish," Sethna said. "We want to be at our best at the sectional meet and at state, and today we took that first step."
Altogether the Mustangs, who finished second as a team to Lake Forest in the team race, qualified all three relays and six individual qualifiers for the state meet at Evanston next week. Falconer led the way along with Black by qualifying in a pair of individual events. Davidson and Bryan Wiener were also individual qualifiers for Mundelein.
Not to be outdone by the Mundelein performance was Warren. The Blue Devils had a historic day and, much like Mundelein, were led by a freshman in Matt Conway. He qualified by winning the 100 butterfly and 100 backstrokes in personal best times. He also contributed to the Devils' state qualifying 200 medley relay team that included his brother Danny plus Ben Abejuela and Brad Church.
"This is the best I have swam in my life," Matt Conway said." I was so nervous for three days, but once I got in here - the energy, everything was great."
Saturday became the best day ever at a sectional for Warren as the Devils qualified a relay and five individuals for the state meet.
"The start of the day really got the ball rolling for us," said Warren coach Chris Bertana. "Once that relay hit it became infectious for the rest of the team."
Libertyville senior Stevie Wimmer set his day up earlier in the week so that he could position himself for bigger and better things at the state meet next week. Wimmer did even better than that.
The Kentucky-bound Wimmer captured a pair of individual race wins in the 50 (20.78) and the 100 (45.48) and swam in spectacular fashion at the end of the Wildcats' state qualifying 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Ben Snader, Brad Ostmeyer and Chris Marr teamed with Wimmer on the 200 relay team while Ostmeyer, Marr, and Daniel Guerrero joined the Wildcat star on the 400 relay team.
Snader was the Wildcats' other individual qualifier as he earned spots in the 200 IM and the 100 breastroke.
The breaststroke also provided a first of sorts for Lakes. Freshman Daniel Le became the first Lakes Eagle to qualify for state, as his 59.38 effort earned a state meet berth. Kevin Lenz of Vernon Hills also qualified in that race, and he added a berth in the 50 freestyle to his resume for next week.
Grayslake North senior James Landry earned a berth at state in the 100 backstroke.