Moments, and memories, made at Lake Forest
One meet, three moments:
Seconds after the 200-yard IM at Saturday’s Lake Forest boys swimming and diving sectional, Mundelein swim coach Rahul Sethna grabbed his head with both hands, grimaced and bent his knees slightly.
Mustangs sophomore Art Kasemets had just clocked a third-place 1:59.2.
The state-meet cut in the event: 1:59.06.
“So close, so close,” Sethna said. “Great swim, though.”
Moment No. 2: Libertyville freshman Matt Harrington, shortly after qualifying for state in the 200 free (1:43.63, second place), got out of the pool. But he staggered, couldn’t stand.
“Every single vein, in both legs, felt like iron was in me,” he recalled. “I couldn’t move. The (student) timers help me up; nice timers. I thanked them.”
And then there was this: Warren coach Chris Bertana, who would be named sectional coach of the year, looked up at LF’s pool-record board after the 200 free relay. He smiled. Pride gripped him.
Pride stuck around for a while.
His foursome of Chad Church, Sean Conway, Ashwin Sanzgiri and Matthew Conway had just sped to a pool-record 1:26.52.
The old mark (1:26.99) was set in 2003, by a quartet anchored by Matt Grevers.
Yes, that Matt Grevers, the Lake Forest grad who bowed for a relay gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China.
“I know all about Matt Grevers,” said Mundelein senior Bryan Wiener. “Everybody knows about him, right? He grew up here, is a great guy. Hometown hero.”
Wiener had zipped to a first-place 50.66 in the 100 backstroke, another pool record, some 10 minutes earlier.
The previous mark, also set in 2003: 50.72, by … Grevers. Matt Grevers.
“Sure, swimming a 50.66 is a highlight, the No. 1 highlight of my season,” said Wiener. “But I want it to dip to No. 2 after next weekend (at the state meet, at Evanston).”
Four other pool records fell on Saturday, with Warren senior Danny Conway knocking two of them off the big board. The Blue Devil topped the 200 IM field in 1:52.19, obliterating the previous pool best of 1:55.34 (2002), and then cruised to a 4:33.39 in the 500 free to easily better a 1995 standard (4:37.98).
Warren junior Matthew Conway now ranks No. 1 all-time at the Scouts’ natatorium in the 100 butterfly (50.71; old mark: 50.98, in ’94); and Lakes junior Kyle Aerne erased a pool mark (59.23) set two years ago by winning the 100 breaststroke in 59.08.
“A lot of adrenaline, definitely, helped me in the race,” Aerne said. “My arms, at the end, felt like they were spinning; I didn’t feel powerful. Those last 50 yards … If you’re not feeling dead then, you’re not giving it your all.”
All that separated sectional champion Lake Forest (277.5 points) and runner-up Warren in the team standings on Saturday: 1.5 points.
All that separated third-place Libertyville (240.5) and fourth-place Mundelein: see the gap, above.
So close, so close.
Vernon Hills finished fifth (117 points) behind junior Alex Zuniga’s runner-up showing (441.2) and senior teammate Nathan Lightman’s fourth-place (392.8) effort in the morning’s diving segment. Both should advance to state as at-large plungers.
“My biggest worry was my last dive (inward 2½),” said Lightman, a year after his season was cut short because of a broken leg. “I had to throw it, hold on tight. When I saw the water, in the middle of it, I had to get my arms out and my legs up.”
The legs of Warren’s three relay teams almost combined for a sweep on Saturday. Matthew Conway, Church, Danny Conway and Sean Conway won the 200 medley relay (1:35.69), ahead of that record-setting 200 free unit. In the 400 free relay, Danny Conway, Sean Conway, Austin Salisbury and Matthew Conway silvered (state-qualifying 3:10.96) to LF’s Colin Rowe, Bryan Bunning, Bogdan Balteanu and Peter Grumhaus (3:09.93).
“That would have been nice, winning all three,” said Purdue-bound Danny Conway. “But Lake Forest did a phenomenal job.
“We did, as a team, what we needed to do today.”
Warren’s big decision, before the meet, involved Matthew Conway. Put him in two relays or three relays?
He swam in all three.
“I left that up to Matt and the captains to decide,” Bertana said. “That was tough. And risky. But you get more points (for placing) in relays, and our goal is to finish in the top five at state.”
All six of the swimmers in the final heat of 100 back qualified for state. The five, after Wiener’s blistering 50:66: LF’s Bunning (51.93), Libertyville’s Alex Snarski (52.83), LF’s Daniel Smith (53.29), Grayslake Central’s Kirk Dickson (53.75) and Grayslake North’s Brenden Bolman (53.99).
“I was off, technique-wise,” admitted Dickson. “That’s something I plan to fix before state. In my second 50 (yards), my legs died and my stroke died.”
Mundelein junior Connor Black’s season: alive and quite well, in four events. The Mustang touched first in the 50 free (20.98) and 100 free (45.87) and swam on a pair of state-qualifying relays (200 medley, 200 free). Wiener, Kasemets and Matt Marcotte joined him on the 200 medley (1:35.96, third place) and 200 free (1:27.04, second).
Libertyville’s state boat will be crowded next weekend. Harrington and Snarski each went 4-for-4. Harrington, in addition to his 200 free feat, placed second in the 100 free (46.99) and swam on swift relays with Justin Fu, Atticus Rush and Tommy Keefe (200 free, 1:27.28, third) and with Rush, Fu and Snarski (400 free, 3:12.68, third). Snarski also made it to state in the 100 fly (52.13, third) and as a member of the fourth-place 200 medley relay (1:38.38; with Austin Skoog, Pat King and Keefe).
The biggest decision by Harrington on Saturday had little to do with swimming. And it took place early, really early.
“When I woke up today,” the Wildcat said, “my first thought was, ‘I want to go back to bed.’ But I got up, so I could represent.”
LF’s Grumhaus won the 200 free (1:42.11) and teammate Andrew Marsh amassed a meet-best 447.75 in diving.
Among the other state qualifiers at the electric sectional: Warren’s Matthew Sweet (200 IM, 1:58.13, second; 100 breaststroke, 59.95, third); Wiener (50 free, 21.38, second); Church (100 breaststroke, 59.1, second; 50 free, 21.69, fourth); King (500 free, 4:54.33, third); Kasemets (100 breaststroke, 1:00.42, fourth); and Mundelein’s Kevin Franz (diving, 400, third; a likely at-large total).