Boys swimming state finals / Lake County
Members of Mundelein’s 200-yard medley relay needed perspective on Saturday morning.
So their swim coach, Rahul Sethna, gave them some — on a bus.
The relay mates/listeners:
Ÿ Seniors Sean Falconer and Will Davidson.
Ÿ Junior Bryan Wiener.
Ÿ Sophomore Connor Black.
“I talked with them on our way here,” Sethna recalled after Saturday afternoon’s boys state swimming and diving meet at New Trier. “I told them, ‘Realize the 1:35 you went (in Friday’s prelims) would have been a top-6 time at most other state meets.’”
The time (1:35.84, to be exact) was good for ninth, putting the quartet in a Saturday consolation final.
Sethna then shifted, aboard the bus, from perspective chatter to motivation-speak.
“Places 6 through 12 are up for grabs,” he told his boys, referring to the team standings at state. “We have a lot of chances to move up. Let’s move up.”
The Mustangs’ medley relay moved north, from ninth to eighth (1:36.11).
Five events later, Black, competing in the 100 butterfly, improved from fourth in the prelims to runner-up (50.13) in a championship final.
Mundelein’ 200 free relay then took fifth (1:25.1) Saturday, a day after qualifying sixth (1:25.6) in the event.
After all was said and dunked (New Trier’s joyous Trevians jumped into their pool and bobbed with the first-place trophy), Mundelein had placed seventh (50 points) — the top finish in program history.
The effort supplanted Sethna’s 1998-99 crew, which finished ninth.
“Top 8 at state,” a smiling, proud Sethna said. “Illinois — great swimmers swim in this state. Our guys sat down, before the start of the season, and that was the goal — top 8. We wanted to be the best team in our area at the end.
“We accomplished that.”
Another driven club on Saturday was Warren.
The Blue Devils, co-North Suburban Conference champions with Stevenson, placed a program-best 14th (27 points), thanks to six top-12 finishes.
Junior Danny Conway paced coach Chris Bertana’s squad, with a sixth-place 4:35.33 in the 500 free. It stands as the top state performance ever by a Blue Devil.
Senior teammate Sage Stephens had held that distinction — three events earlier — after his seventh-place showing in diving (428.6 points). Stephens entered Saturday’s finals in 10th place. Before his third and final dive Saturday, he sat in eighth.
His reverse 2½ (with a 3.0 degree of difficulty) on his final prep plunge lifted him a spot.
“I gave it everything I had,” Stephens said of his 11th dive.
He also gave his father, Shawn Stephens, significant credit afterward.
Warren’s diving coach?
Shawn Stephens.
“My coach, my dad, my supporter,” said Sage, who is bound for more diving at Eastern Michigan University. “He’s pushed me, inspired me.”
Kirk Gagliardo (Warren Clas of 2008) must have spurred this year’s Blue Devils. After all, his eighth-place finish in the 50 free, at his final state meet two years ago, was the program’s best state result before the 2010-11 season.
Gagliardo swims these days at Grove City (Pa.) College. His brother, senior Karter Gagliardo, served as a captain this winter and swam on the Blue Devils’ 11th-place 200 medley relay (1:37.17) on Saturday.
“I knew we’d be good this year,” said Karter, who will join his big brother at the Division III school. “We had a lot of solid guys back. But this good? No. I felt so fortunate, all year, to be around such a great group of guys. This team, with the kind of quality guys on it. We’ve all been blessed.”
Conway and his younger brother, sophomore Matt Conway, along with junior Chad Church, also swam medley-relay legs at state. Matt Conway sped to 10th in the 100 butterfly (50.97) and placed 12th in the 100 backstroke (53.11).
Danny Conway touched 10th in the 200 IM (1:54.24).
Bertana, Warren’s coach, also coaches Blue Devil Swim Club swimmers. One of his BDSC darts is Lakes sophomore Daniel Le.
Le, because Lakes High School does not have a pool, typically practiced from 6-8 p.m. this winter, following the Blue Devils’ practices at Warren’s O’Plaine campus.
“My buddies,” Le said of Warren’s boys.
His best (inanimate) friend on Saturday: a third-place medal. Le earned that decoration in the 100 breaststroke after clocking a 56.28. The Eagle took eighth (58.64) in the same event last year.
“I just raced, went all-out,” Le said. “This is what I’ve been training for all year. There was no point in saving anything today. While training, I thought about how hard Matt Elliott and Kevin Cordes must have been training.”
Elliott, a Peoria Richwoods senior, won the 100 breaststroke Saturday in a state-meet record 53.8; Neuqua Valley’s Cordes, also a senior, silvered in 54.16.
Mundelein’s Black beamed hard and brilliantly as he touched, and talked about, his silver medal after the 100 breast. Only Loyola Academy sophomore Andrew Jovanovic (48.13) had swum faster than the Mustang in the event. Black first battled Jovanovic when both were 12, in an age-group race.
“Big … this is big,” Black said, after his third of four events Saturday. “It’s tough, swimming in four events (Friday and Saturday), but it’s all worth it. I envisioned making it to state and making it to Saturday, before the season. But this? Getting this medal? No way. No way did I envision this.”
Splashes:
Libertyville senior Ben Snader finished ninth in the 100 breast (58.28) Saturday, faster than his consolation-seed time (58.58) and state-meet seed (1:00.27). … Mundelein’s 200 medley and 200 free relays earned automatic All-America status Saturday. … New Trier’s state title was its 21st in program history. Naperville Central (163 points) and Normal University High School (96) finished 2-3. … How close was the championship heat of the 200 free relay Saturday? This close: Fifth-place Mundelein was only 0.08 behind third-place Glenbrook South (1:25.02), and Glenbrook South’s quartet beat fourth-place Normal U-High by a scant 0.05. Mundelein, slotted in Lane 6, led the relay after two legs. … Mundelein’s Connor Black also placed eighth in the 200 IM (1:53.6) on Saturday. … Will Davidson churned to 11th in the 50 free (21.54). His career state-medal haul: 5. Flashback: Davidson, then a Mundelein freshman, swam on the Mustangs’ 24-place 200 free relay (1:29.16) at the ’08 state meet, with Pat Falconer (’10), Richard Lukacs (’08) and Kevin Coughlin (’08). … Warren’s Karter Gagliardo, on relay teammate Chad Church: “Hilarious. He’s hilarious. And he gets all of us motivated, jacked up, before races.”