Barrington wins own sectional

About halfway through Saturday’s boys swimming sectional meet hosted by Barrington, Broncos coach John Valentine characterized his team’s performance thusly:

“So far, so good,” Valentine said. “No surprises — and that’s just fine.”

By meet’s end, Barrington still hadn’t received any bad news. Virtually of its swimmers expected to qualify for next weekend’s state meet at New Trier had gotten the job done.

That was reflected in the team scoring, which showed Barrington winning with 254, ahead of Stevenson (225) and Conant (193). Fremd (143) placed fourth, followed by Cary-Grove (133) and Jacobs (124).

“We’ve just got to tip our cap to Barrington’s kids,” said Stevenson coach Greg Hartman. “I thought we did fine, but they really had great swims across the board.”

Barrington sophomore Jack Strauss had legs on all three state-qualifying relays and won the 100-yard freestyle in 47.51. The Broncos were winners in the 200 medley and 200 free relays and placed second in the 400 free relay.

Sophomore Connor Kobida was on the medley relay and won the 100 breaststroke in 59.53.

Junior Leo Hayden placed second in the 100 fly and fifth in the 200 free, advancing to state in both races.

Senior Matt Lee won the 50 free in 21.55 and had legs on all the relays. Sophomore Kyle Ujiye had legs on two relays and qualified for state in the 100 fly.

Senior Dan Comyn made it in the 50 free and the 200 free relay. And senior Greg Alexander, whose season was disrupted due to an accident that required 15 stitches in a hand, qualified in the 100 breaststroke with a second-place finish.

The only surprise for Barrington turned out to be the good kind. Valentine had nothing but good things to say in his post-meet address to the team, still dripping from a sectional championship dunking.

“Coach was telling us he was a little surprised at just how well things went,” said Ujiye, “and that he might have to adjust his standards for us a little bit. Everybody swam great today.”

And dove well, too, as junior Nolan Presmyk took second with a total of 376.10.

Stevenson’s highlights were getting all three relays into the state meet as well as individual advancement from Langston Fitts (200 free, 100 free), Adam Salzman (200 IM), Daniel Shtivelberg (50 free), Chris Hodges (200 IM) and Ryota Kuwahara (100 fly).

Salzman delivered a 46.56 split on his 100 leg of the 400 free relay to help the Patriots win in 3:12.55.

“For us, now it’s all about finding a way to swim on Saturday (at the state meet),” said Hartman. “I’ll say this – watch out for Adam Salzman next week. He wasn’t shaved today and still had great swims.”

“I’m just feeling really confident right now,” said Salzman, a senior and state meet veteran.

The Patriots also got a lift in diving, where sophomore James Lichtenstein won with 384.20. Not bad for an athlete in his first season as a diver.

“That’s a big plus for us,” said Hartman. “It kind of gives us another dimension.”

Conant’s day got started in an uplifting way, as the medley relay of Martin Pozniak, Brandon Grzegorek, Alan Wojciechowski and Chad Woytus qualified for state in 1:27.99.

“That was key for us,” said Conant coach Brian Drenth. “We were only a half-second away from the cut coming in, so we knew if everybody did their job, we’d probably get in. After the medley, everybody was relaxed and ready, in the right frame of mind.”

Sophomore Jonathon Burke won the 500 free in 4:40.42 and placed fourth with a state-qualifying effort in the 200 free. Senior Palmer Lynch placed second in the 50 free and third in the 100 free and advanced in both.

The best news for Conant may be that neither Burke nor Lynch were completely rested, meaning it’s likely they’ll both swim faster at the state meet.

Junior diver John Maevski also had a great day, finishing third at 365.05 with an excellent chance to compete at state with an at-large berth.

Cary-Grove will be represented at the state meet by sophomore Michael Hamann, who won the 200 IM (1:54.95) and placed second in the 100 backstroke (52.63).

The Jacobs co-op team got a big lift in the medley relay, where Alex Reinbrecht, Ryne Quinlan, Alex Elston and John Jost finished fourth and advanced in 1:39.08. Reinbrecht is a freshman; the rest are juniors.

“What’s nice is that none of those four are seniors,” said coach Rick Andresen. “They’re going to get the experience of going to state, and that will only help them down the road.”

Elston extended the successful vibe by advancing to state in the 50 free at precisely the cut-off time (22.07), and he won the 100 fly in 51.73.

“I’m really happy for him,” said Andresen. “He’s such a hard worker — he earned this. We feel like he’ll have a chance to score points at the state meet.”

Senior Jeff Freund and sophomore Dennis Kostidis gave Fremd a thrill with their state-qualifying efforts in the same heat of the 500 free. Freund finished second and Kostidis third, both comfortably under the standard.

Kostidis also earned a state meet spot in the 200 free, where he placed third in 1:44.50.

And senior Dustin Anderson earned a repeat trip to state in both the 50 and 100 freestyle. He placed fourth in the 50 free (22.02) and fifth in the 100 (48.35).

Buffalo Grove’s Ian Rodriguez delivered a lifetime best on his way to winning the 100 backstroke in 52.16.

Rodriguez advanced to the state meet last year, but this time it’s logical to expect an even faster swim from him.

“Last year for Ian, it was kind of about getting to the state meet,” said Buffalo Grove coach Jamie Klotz. “Now he’s been there and knows what to expect. I think it comes down to entering that meet with a championship mindset.”

Diver Julian Vasquez placed fourth with 355.65 and stands a good chance to join Rodriguez at state.

Hoffman Estates’ Nick Cannella (354.75) and and Jimmy Kazakos (346.85) also could make it into the state field.

Hoffman Estates sophomore Nick Jessee may have provided some of the biggest swimming surprises of the day. He produced a best time by more than four seconds to win the 200 free (1:43.91) and also advanced to state in the 100 free (48.41).

When asked how he felt about the day’s results, Jessee simply said: “Top of the world.

“I’m beyond surprised. I was thinking of maybe finishing top six in the 200, but winning? Not really. It’s a great feeling.”