The winner is? Stevenson, Warren share NSC honors
For starters, a quick flashback:
Warren’s boys swimming and diving team nipped Stevenson’s Patriots 94-92 on Dec. 9. It was an enormous win for the Blue Devils’ program.
It was “Refrigerator-Perry-next-to-B.J-Raji huge.
True, Stevenson standout Ryota Kuwahara had a date that day in Georgia — to swim at junior nationals.
But Warren’s boys, coached by Chris Bertana, had the right to rejoice, puff their chests a bit.
Stevenson, meanwhile, started counting down the minutes until it would face Warren at the North Suburban Conference Meet.
That big meet arrived Saturday, at Lake Forest.
Each team at the seven-team gathering was assigned a seating area on LF’s deck. Stevenson’s neighbor?
None other than Warren.
“You’re going to have to ask the host school why our teams are right next to each other today,” Stevenson coach Greg Hartman said.
Will do.
“Cindy Dell (host school’s coach), why the arrangement?”
Dell: “That was not done intentionally. It just worked out that way.”
Warren sophomore star Matt Conway sensed some tension, between and during events. But it was the healthy kind.
“I felt it, yes,” he said. “I looked over at them, at times. They looked over at us. We both wanted to win.”
Both won Saturday. Stevenson survived Warren’s six event titles and outpointed the Blue Devils 312-305 to capture the meet championship. But Warren and Stevenson shared the overall title because Warren had claimed the regular-season championship.
Stevenson won last year’s conference meet.
Warren had never achieved a share of an NSC crown.
“There are good vibes between our teams,” Hartman said. “We fed off each other today.”
Stevenson fattened its point total with a steady diet of three-deep feats. One example: Patriots junior Langston Fitts touched first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.33), ahead of mates Daniel Budolak (3rd, 1:48.94) and Daniel Alberts (4th, 1:50.59).
Three Pats finished in the top six in three other events (200 IM, 100 free, 500 free) Saturday.
“So many of our No. 3 guys scored big points for us today,” said Kuwahara, who joined Fitts, Daniel Shtivelberg and Adam Salzman to clock a first-place 3:13.77 in the 400 free relay; Warren’s unit (Matt Conway, Danny Conway, Sean Conway and Karter Gagliardo) took runner-up honors (3:14.03).
“That last relay (400 free), amazing,” Kuwahara added. “So exciting. Warren and us — so close. Just like it was in December. Warren has a great team, and their guys are nice, always congratulating us.”
Matt Conway and older bro Danny, a junior, also absorbed lots of hearty back slaps Saturday. The pair collaborated with Gagliardo and Chad Church for a first-place 1:39.3 in the 200 medley relay, a scant 0.28 in front of runner-up Mundelein (Bryan Wiener, Sean Falconer, Connor Black and Will Davidson), a fleet that was ranked third in the state.
Matt Conway also ruled in the 100 butterfly (51.36) and 100 backstroke (52.96); Danny sped to first in the 200 IM (1:56.26) and 500 free (4:42.83).
Senior Sage Stephens earned the Blue Devils’ other NSC title, amassing 396.2 points in the morning’s diving segment. Libertyville senior Teddy Kelley, last year’s NSC champ, settled for silver (376.7).
Stephens has finished ahead of Kelley three times in five meets this winter.
“Sage’s last three dives — he did so well on those,” said Kelley, referring to Stephens’ difficult — and crowd-pleasing — reverse/twisting plunges. Average DD of his 9-10-11 dives: 2.6.
Stevenson’s Salzman motored to first in the 100 free (48.61) – his first NSC individual title.
Vernon Hills senior Kevin Lenz also bowed for his first conference gold medal, after pounding his way to a personal-best 21.77 in the 50 free. He later collected first-place points for the Cougars in the 100 breaststroke (58.65). But Lakes sophomore Daniel Le topped the breast field in a pool-record 57.65. (Because Le is not a member of a full-boat NSC team, he was not listed at the top of the event’s final results).
Le, shod in bright white sneakers between events, needed the footwear for a startling trip two heats before climbing a block for the start of his heat in the 100 breast. A fire alarm (no flames, no harm) at the school forced the competitors and spectators to depart LF’s natatorium, delaying the meet for 35 minutes.
“Daniel paced himself just right,” said Lakes coach Dave Auston, referring to Le’s race, not the sudden exit. “He looked good, and strong, the whole way.
“The shoes he wore, they look pretty new,” he added. “I think we’ll make him wear them again next weekend (at the Vernon Hills Sectional). What he did today (busting the previous pool mark, set last winter, by nearly 2 seconds) was a big deal.”
Mundelein (187 points) and Libertyville (166) finished 3-5 on Saturday, sandwiching fourth-place LF (171). Mundelein’s Mustangs cornered the silver market, finishing runner-up five times before Black, Wiener, Falconer and Davidson went a meet-best 1:28.48 in the 200 free relay.
Libertyville received runner-up efforts from senior captain Ben Snader (100 breast, 1:00.39) and freshman Alex Snarski (100 back, 53.84).
Libertyville coach Kevin Zakrzewski was Libertyville soothsayer Kevin Zakrzewski before the meet.
“This is going to be a good meet, an interesting day of racing,” he said.
“Warren and Stevenson are both deep. Warren is two-deep in many events, while Stevenson is more of a three-deep team.
“It’ll be close.”