Wheaton co-op second at sectional

Without a single senior swimmer, the runner-up finish by the Wheaton co-op at Saturday’s York sectional bodes well for the future.

But first things first. Junior JT Simoneau will represent Wheaton in two events at next week’s state finals, and he’ll be joined by teammate Tommy Reminger and senior divers Liam McLaughlin and Mark Ciesielski, who placed second and third, respectively.

“This year we have zero seniors on the team other than our divers and we came in knowing the cuts were going to be fast and that we would have to have some big drops,” Wheaton coach Jake Ayers said. “We got close in a lot of things and got a couple that we maybe didn’t expect.”

With Simoneau, a junior, leading the way, Wheaton took second with 204 team points and Lake Park was third at 176. Heavily favored Hinsdale Central, paced by two-time state 500-meter champ Danny Thomson, who set a pool record with a time of 4:37.96, scored 306.50 points to claim top honors.

“The whole team did really well,” said Simoneau, who made the state cut while taking second in the 200 free and second in the 100 free. “For us to take second here with no senior swimmers really leads us into next year.”

Lake Park’s Sean Gregor and his teammates barely missed advancing in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:15.45 that was just shy of the cut, but the Lancers sophomore did win the 100 free in 46.85 and also qualified for state in the 100 back and the 200 medley relay.

“Things went a little bit better than I expected,” said Gregor, who now sets his sights at the state meet and a possible school-record time in the 100 free. “We were disappointed that we missed that last really by two-tenths, but we’re still happy with the time. Now I want to drop a couple more tenths in my 100 to get the school record of 46.60.”

Addison Trail was fifth in the team standings as junior Nicky Zito came up big with a win in the 200 IM and a state-qualifying time of 59.04 while placing second in the 100 breast. In that breaststroke race five swimmers made the cut to advance, including Wheaton Academy’s Brendan Howley and Lake Park’s Jacob Vance.

“That was my best time ever and it gets me psyched for next week,” Zito said of his sectional win in the 200 IM. “Next week I’ll be fully rested and we’ll see what I can do.”

Glenbard West senior Patrick Schrauth was third in the 200 free with a time of 1:44.47 to earn a berth to the state finals.