Conant pools its efforts at Barrington

Conant coach Brian Drenth, dripping wet on Barrington’s pool deck after a celebratory dunk in the pool, was soaking up the moment.

And who could blame him?

The Cougars had just wrapped up the Mid-Suburban League boys swimming and diving championship by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay in a program, pool and conference record time as Alex Shozda, Martin Pozniak, Jonathon Burke and Alan Wojciechowski powered to victory in 3:14.51.

Conant’s victory ended Barrington’s run of six straight league titles.

Conant had last won the conference in 2000 — the year before Drenth and diving coach Robin Yactor started their Cougars careers together.

And Conant had finished second to Barrington the past two seasons, so to finally break through and win it all was sweet relief.

“We really exceeded what I thought we could do, in terms of performance,” said Drenth. “These guys went out and earned it.”

Conant finished at 285, with Barrington close behind at 255. Buffalo Grove, paced by victories from senior Ian Rodriguez in the 200 IM and 100, placed third at 161, followed by Fremd (141), Hersey (122) and Prospect (112).

Drenth said the first race of the day — the medley relay — was the key. It was another record effort as Shozda, Brandon Grzegorek, Pozniak and Wojciechowski set team, pool and conference records by winnning in 1:36.66. Their time also unofficially puts them among the state’s elite.

“That race can really set the tone for you in a meet, and it really worked that way for us today,” said Drenth. “You can see everyone’s confidence rise, along with expectations for the day ahead of them.”

Shozda won the 50 free (21.82) and 100 free (47.62). Jonathon Burke impressed in winning the 200 free (1:43.96) and 500 free (4:40.62) and was joined by teammate Matt Nagorzanski for a 1-2 Conant finish in the 500.

Conant got a 2-3 finish from Wojciechowski and Pozniak in the 100 fly, Pozniak was second in the IM, David Wollschlager provided a key second-place effort in the 100 back (55.65), and Grzegorek followed suit with a second in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.73). And Conant’s 200 free relay of Wojciechowski, Zon Wang, Jason Brushaber and Burke took second in 1:30.72.

“We feel great about the day,” said Shozda. “Everybody was just focused on what they needed to do.”

And in every event, the Cougars had enough depth with their second entrant to stay ahead of a very capable Barrington team. Swimmers such as Adrian Lisowski, sixth in the 200 free and eighth in the 100 back, ended up making a big difference.

“Our guys would have loved to win this meet,” said Barrington coach John Valentine, “but Conant just swam a little better. My hat’s off to them.”

Make no mistake — Barrington remains an elite team, and one that has been focusing on sectional and state achievment. The Broncos won 200 free relay decisively with Kyle Ujiye, Tommy Clement, Sebastian Piekarski and Jack Strauss (1:29.75). Barrington was second in the medley relay and third in the 400 free relay.

Ujiye was dominant in winning the 100 fly in a career-best 51.42 and also scored top-six points in the 200 IM; Strauss was second in the 100 free (48.49) and third in the 50 free (22.17). Connor Kobida placed third in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.33), James Rodney was third in the 200 free (1:51.30) and Nicholas Cogswell and Clement placed 5-6 in the 100 backstroke.

Rodriguez led the way for Buffalo Grove with tremendous winning efforts in the 200 IM (1:55.82) and 100 back (52.11). But it truly was a team effort for the Bison — the 200 medley relay of Rodriguez, Ryan Chlopowicz, Matt Schulstad and Jon Mass placed third in 1:39.47, and the 400 free relay of Mass, Schulstad, Poirer and Rodriguez took second in 3:20.15. Both relays were program records, as were Rodriguez’s individual swims.

Mass provided a big lift for the Bison by finishing second in the 50 free (22.15) and third in the 100 free (49.07), lopping a second and a half off his previous best in latter. Schulstad provided a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly (54.69) and a sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.83).

It’s possible that Rodriguez, who finished seventh in the state last year in the 100 backstroke, has raced in that event for the last time as a high schooler. Coach Jamie Klotz said a decision will be made at midweek about which events Rodriguez will swim in Saturday’s Stevenson sectional, with BG’s state-capable relays as one factor in the final decision.

Fremd got top-six finishes from Andrew King (50 free, 100 free) and Dennis Kostidis (200 IM, 100 fly) and a huge time drop from Andre Degla in the 100 backstroke — he trimmed almost nine seconds from his previous best to place fourth in 57.16.

Hersey’s top finishes came from senior Alex Roznai, who placed third in the 100 backstroke (56.97) and sixth in the 100 fly (54.92), from Jamey Hill, who was third in the 500 free (5:07.30), and from Samuel Kim, who was sixth in the 100 free (49.92).

Hoffman Estates junior Sang W. Han took top honors in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.25) and also placed fifth in the 50 free (22.57). His teammate Nick Jessee was second in the 200 free (1:50.87).

Wheeling’s Bryce Maczko broke into the top six with a fourth-place finish in the 200 free (1:51.51).

Prospect’s Nathanael Ginnodo took fourth in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 IM, and Andrew Younger was fifth in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.

Rolling Meadows junior Artie Checchin cracked the top six in the 50 free (22.51) and 100 free (49.85).