Naperville North’s big three look ready
Naperville North’s big three showed by their performances at the Metea Valley Swimming and Diving Invite that they have their eyes on the big prize.
Seniors Nick Bessler, Andy Eiken and Kevin Butz, who are locked in on the idea of the Huskies winning a state top-three trophy and possibly even the championship, all turned in record-breaking performances to lead the Huskies to a decisive victory at Saturday’s Metea Valley Swimming and Diving Invite.
The trio was instrumental in the Huskies sweeping the relays and between them captured wins in four individual races.
Two of the relay wins and three of the individual wins were good for both pool and meet records, though this is only the second year for the Metea Valley pool.
“The big three are on a mission this year,” coach Andy McWhirter said. “And the guys right behind them such as David Healy, Tom Hubbard, Erica Curia and Sam Hiller are also stepping up at the right time. We’re right where we should be at this time of the year, considering how hard we’ve been working in practice.
The Huskies finished with 645.5 points as second-place Neuqua Valley had 499 and Naperville Central, which was third, scored 427. The host Mustangs were fourth with 424. Waubonsie Valley followed with 242.5, Oswego finished with 322 and Benet had 165 in the 11-team field.
“Today was big for us because this is the pool we’ll swim in at sectionals when we’re trying to qualify for state,” said Eiken, who broke the record in the 100 freestyle with a 47.35. “We were focused on getting a feel for the pool.”
Eiken was also a member — along with Butz, Hubbard and Bessler — of the winning 400 freestyle relay team with a record time of 3:12.65. The 1:27.37 that won the 200 freestyle relay and featured Eiken, Hubbard, Hiller and Butz also set a record.
The Huskies made it three winning relays when Hiller, Healy, Bessler and Hubbard started the day with a narrow win over Metea Valley finishing in 1:38.37, .01 off the record.
“Our 400 lineup is set for sectionals,” Eiken said. “In the 200 free we’re still thinking about changing the order.”
“I’ve been impressed with the medley relay,” McWhirter said. “They’ve been dropping a lot of time the past several weeks and we think they can go into sectionals already with the state cut. Healy’s breaststroke is one of the keys to the team and Bessler has been coming along in the fly.”
Bessler won two races.
First he won the 200 IM with a 1:58.80 finish and then he broke the Metea Valley pool and meet records with a 51.99 in the 100 butterfly.
Butz won the 500 freestyle in a record-breaking 4:49.55.
“I thought Nick was too far back to make a comeback in the butterfly,” McWhirter said. “But he turned it on in the last 28 yards and finished strong. Kevin is swimming through the 500, though he’s gone faster than that.”
Naperville Central’s Sean Lehane broke pool records by winning the 200 free in 1:43.60 over Eiken and Butz, who finished second and third, and in the 100 backstroke with a 51.40.
“The 200 free was a tight race,” Lehane said. “But going against Eiken and Butz pushed me to go faster.”
Metea Valley finished 1-2-3 in the 50 free, with Adam Stacklin winning and setting the record in 21.80 as teammates Michael McWhirter and Joe Poletto finished second and third.