Boys swimming: Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley win at Barrington two-division relays

Barrington senior Adam Gaffney did not meet his Waterloo in a pair of events at Saturday's Broncos boys swimming and diving relays.

But he got an eyeful of an epic loss hours later - in a movie theater.

Gaffney and his buddies watched "Napoleon" after he helped Barrington's 100- and 850-yard freestyle relays win in 41.9 and 7:56.59, respectively. Quinn Bennet, Alex Scott and William Pinchot joined him in the former, and Bennet, Evan Kissack and Luke Keller collaborated with him in the latter.

"I'm a huge movie fan," Gaffney, the leadoff leg for each quartet, said after the 10-team, two-division (Red, White), 28-event meet.

His all-time favorite flick?

"'Pirates of the Caribbean,'" he said.

Naperville North sailed to the White championship in Saturday's matinee, while Waubonsie Valley - behind its invite-high seven event titles - topped the Red pool.

Naperville North's Huskies finished with 133 points, ahead of Fenwick (117), Lake Park (96), Rockford Guilford (41) and St. Viator (33). WV's Warriors (123) edged Red runner-up Lyons Township (118) and third-place Barrington (115). Naperville Central (75) and St. Charles East (67) also competed at the unique meet.

"It's like a high-intensity practice," Naperville North coach Aaron Maschman said. "You want your swimmers at this early point of the season building a solid foundation, which the best houses have. I look for the little things, like how our guys look going into turns, their kickouts, their streamlines. Are we streamlining tightly?"

Naperville North's Alvin Ng went 4-for-4, completing swift legs for the victorious White 400 medley (3:41.29), 800 free (7:36.12), 300 butterfly (2:41.2) and 300 breaststroke (3:06.98) relays. Other triumphant Huskies included Maksim Fedorovskiy, Jack Reif, Ethan Herscher, Carter Seiple, Ryan Chen, Ethan Shen and Cameron Self. Franklin Austin tallied a White-best 273.15 points in diving.

Senior-laden Waubonsie Valley - 10th at the state meet last winter - showed it's a legit threat to haul home a state trophy in late February. Shaun Bahl, Keian Lam, Tyler Bardak and Alex Schwartz combined for a 3:35.9 to win Saturday's first relay, the 400 medley, only a few hours after the Warriors completed a practice session (8-10 a.m.) in their home water in Aurora.

Waubonsie Valley coach Christopher Hagenbaumer's tireless squad features 15 seniors.

"There's no pressure at a meet like this," said Hagenbaumer, a 1989 Waubonsie graduate who took first in the 100 breaststroke at the 1989 state meet. "It's a fun one, especially in the 4-by-25 free. You have to be creative when making a lineup here, and it's my job to put my swimmers in positions to succeed.

"I love my team."

Other Waubonsie Valley winning relay legs included Arpan Dhar, Sam Lohman, Luke Martens, Zidan Lam, Aidan Miller, Mantas Abeciunas and Asrith Amaravadi.

Lake Park senior Dominick Perkowski served as leg No. 3 for the Lancers' winning 400 free unit (3:18.02). Alexander Grodecki, Johnny Fox and Matthew Karasak took care of the rapid duties in the other 300 yards.

"All week long we worked on starts," Perkowski said. "Suddenly, it's Saturday, time for a meet, time to go, time to fly, time to let loose. Timing is such a big part of the start, but so is explosiveness, which you develop in the weight room."

Perkowski exited Barrington's natatorium as a three-time winner. He also led off the first-place White 100 free relay (41.52) and anchored the first-place White 850 free relay (8:01.4). Grodecki, Fox and Karasak followed him in the former, and Nicholas Mikina, Fox and Karasak preceded him in the distance test.

"Our brotherhood - it's a team strength," Perkowski said. "Swimming might seem like an individual sport to many, but it's not. It's so much more than that."

The Barrington foursome of Eric Ding, Keller, Maxsym Kocur and Tim Sardak motored to first place (1:45.9) in the White 200 medley relay (frosh-soph).

As sprint freestyler Sardak neared the final wall, an animated Alex Mikolajewski - the Broncos' first-year boys coach - raised his arms poolside and pumped them more than a few times.

"Tim deserved that; Tim works hard," said Mikolajewski, whose top two swimmers, Lucas Bucaro and Rylan Anselm, hit the water at a junior nationals meet in Westmont instead of at Barrington on Saturday. "A lot of our kids stepped up today, in a lot of strokes. I saw passionate guys swimming enthusiastically.

"You could compare this meet to a training session," he added. "But there's a fun element to it, too. And some of the events allow swimmers to race a longer distance in their specialty."

St. Charles East received title efforts from diver Jake Scalise (Red, 374.6) and the Saints' 300 butterfly relay (Seth Kacmar, Chris Souk, Ben Stevens and Joaquin Negro; 2:41.73).

Naperville Central's crew of Aadhav Ponnusamy, Patrick Stern, Sam Lendzion and Brian Dai silvered in the Red 300 fly relay (2:42.33).

First-year St. Viator coach Zach Miller, a Rolling Meadows graduate and a crack ultimate Frisbee player (he's a switch-thrower), watched Lions Tim Dillon, Marcus Montesclaros, Ethan Bordeau and Hudson Radford clock a third-place 4:30.94 in the White 400 free relay (frosh-soph).

"You want to see growth from your swimmers at this meet," Miller said. "I told them before the meet, 'Give me your best today. Clear eyes, full hearts.'

"They're all class acts," he said. "They're all respectful and responsible."