Sweet 4-peat for Stevenson
On the eve of Saturday’s North Suburban Conference boys swimming and diving meet at Vernon Hills, Stevenson junior diver James Lichtenstein had quite a practice.
He earned 32 Starburst candy squares from Patriots diving coach Amy Inselberger.
It was Halloween, with a twist: Throw a tricky dive well, get a treat.
“I ate 10 of them,” Lichtenstein recalled after Saturday morning’s NSC diving segment.
“I like the pink ones and the yellow ones.”
He liked, and savored, something gold at VH, after collecting his event’s top medal with a 401.95-point effort.
The Patriot trailed reigning Lake County Invite champ Alex Zuniga, of Vernon Hills, 279.55-274.5 after eight dives. He then threw sweet dive after sweet dive in the final round.
Each of the five judges flashed a ‘5’ or better after each of Lichtenstein’s final three plunges. Zuniga ended up third (365.3), behind Lake Forest junior Andrew Marsh (374.55) and ahead of Stevenson’s Blake Ripes (fourth, 345.5).
“James’ last three dives … great, all of them,” Inselberger said. “It was fun to see him do at a meet what he does at practice every day.”
Stevenson, the team, would not win another event Saturday.
No matter.
None of the other six teams bettered the Patriots’ point total (296) at the meet. Runner-up Warren tallied 248 points, followed by Lake Forest (223.5), Libertyville and Mundelein (185 each), Vernon Hills (64) and Zion-Benton (42).
Stevenson amassed four runner-up showings and four third-place finishes in the swim segment to capture its fourth straight NSC title under fourth-year coach Greg Hartman.
“This meet, like the Lake County Meet and dual meets, plays to our strength,” Hartman said of his crew’s 20,000-leagues-under-the-pool depth.
“A business-as-usual day,” he added. “But here’s what’s important: This group has to be on, in order for us to do well.”
Five Pats seniors swam on all four NSC-title squads: Ryota Kuwahara, Chris Hodges, Langston Fitts, Daniel Shtivelberg and Steven McKee.
Hodges silvered in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.05) and 100 breaststroke (1:01.32) races and swam on a pair of third-place relays (200 free, 1:29.43; 400 free, 3:15.79) with Fitts, Kuwahara and Shtivelberg.
Patriots, when they weren’t in the water on Saturday, wore green-and-gold T-shirts, ones with a Superman “S” on the front.
What more than a few folks wanted to shout when Warren senior Danny Conway swam on Saturday: “Look! In the water! It’s a swordfish! It’s a torpedo! It’s …”
Or something like that.
Purdue-bound Conway set pool and NSC Meet marks in two events, clocking a 1:53.4 in the 200 IM and a 4:35.88 in the 500 free. He also collaborated with junior Matthew Sweet and brothers Sean and Matt Conway to win the 400 free relay (3:13.19).
“Fun meet,” said Danny Conway. “We were hoping to make a run at Stevenson. But this meet was also about guys who had tapered for today, guys whose last meet of the season was today. They work hard and practice hard, too.
“We got out of our seats to cheer for them, rally them.”
Mundelein junior Connor Black was the only swimmer Saturday to climb a start block for a first-place medal four times. The marvelous Mustang zipped to a pool- and meet-record 46.04 in the 100 free and beat senior teammate Bryan Wiener 20.98-21.65 in the 50 free. Black and Wiener joined senior Matt Marcotte and sophomore Art Kasemets on the victorious 200 medley (1:36.57) and 200 free (1:27.11) relays.
Nearly two months ago, at the Lake County Invite, Black (21.2) and Wiener (21.67) went 1-2 in the 50 free.
“Cool … It’s always cool when we finish next to each other like that,” Black said on Saturday.
Sizzling: 20.42 — Wiener’s anchor split in the 200 free.
“Wow, that’s fast,” said Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna. “I did not expect that today. He’s a racer, isn’t he? The goal, by the end of the season, is a 19.99.”
Added a thrilled Wiener: “A 19-anything.”
Wiener, in the very next race, pulled his way to a triumphant 50.95 in the 100 backstroke.
As the event’s No. 2 seed.
Libertyville sophomore Alex Snarski (52.48) took second ahead of top-seeded Matt Conway (53.16).
Warren’s Sweet startled the field in the 100 breaststroke, touching first in 1:01.07; he had entered the race with a fifth-seeded time of 1:02.74 and zero NSC titles.
Hodges (1:01.32) edged Warren’s Chad Church (1:01.47) for second place.
“I’ve been working on fixing my technique,” said Sweet, also third in Saturday’s 200 IM (2:01.93). “I’m now dropping my hips, which allows me to drive forward better.
“This morning, before the meet, I kept swimming this race in my head. Then, when I got here, I didn’t think; I just raced, let it happen.”
Other championship efforts Saturday: Lake Forest’s Peter Grumhaus (200 free, 1:43.83); Matt Conway (100 butterfly, 51.5).
Libertyville’s Snarski earned another silver in the 200 IM (2:00.67). The Wildcats’ 200 free relay of Matt Harrington, Justin Fu, Atticus Rush and Tommy Keefe took second in 1:28.97.
“This meet is, for a lot of teams, a dress rehearsal (for next weekend’s sectionals),” said Libertyville coach Kevin Zakrzewski. “But this is a championship meet, and there’s nothing wrong with swimming fast in it; that’s my thinking for this meet. Not all coaches share that kind of thinking.”
Lake Zurich’s Kyle McNair and Kuba Pelka each left with a similar prize: a fifth-place medal. McNair, a senior, went 2:03.87 in the 200 IM; Pelka, a junior, undulated to a 54.2 in the 100 fly.
Andrew Lindquist, the lone Lakes Eagle at the meet, took fifth in the 100 free (49.51).
Stevenson junior Patrick Galas placed sixth in the 100 free (49.97), bettering his seed time by nearly a second from the event’s penultimate heat. He also finished seventh in the 100 back (55.68), behind mate McKee (sixth, 55.46).
“Patrick,” Hartman said, “was on fire today. A guy like Patrick … You need a guy like Patrick to win a meet like this.”
And guys like Allen Feng and Nick Koto, a pair of Stevenson freshmen, plus junior Ryan Lenhart and senior captain Daniel Budolak. Feng, seeded eighth (2:05.73) in the 200 IM, motored to fourth in 2:02.77; Koto took fourth in the 200 free (1:47.51) and third in the 500 free (4:52.92), ahead of Lenhart (fifth, 4:57.01) and Budolak (sixth, 5:02.52).