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Boys swimming: Maine South wins title at emotion-filled Conant invite

Saturday afternoon’s Conant Cougar boys swimming and diving invite featured a moving mix of reflection, resolve and racing.

It also doubled as a “Stand Up To Cancer” meet, raising money for research as well as awareness for a disease that took more than 600,000 lives in the U.S. last year.

Conant coach Brian Drenth, holding a microphone, addressed everyone in the natatorium after the 50-yard freestyle, informing them of the organization’s mission.

His voice cracked as he mentioned a name.

Spectators and many on deck had written the name of their special person — who had either survived cancer or lost the battle — on a card provided at the gate.

“Please stand up and hold up your card,” Drenth told the crowd ahead of a moment of silence.

Drenth’s special person: his mother, Joyce Elaine Drenth, who passed away on Dec. 13 after a lengthy and courageous bout with cancer.

“She was a fighter,” Drenth said after the eight-team, 39-event meet, adding Joyce served as an educator and an assistant principal in School District 54. “Because her mother was afraid of the water, my mother didn’t swim until she was in her 30s.”

Her fearless Brian hit the water often as a Conant Cougar in the 1990s, helping a 200-yard medley relay finish sixth at the 1996 state meet.

“The best advice she gave me was, ‘You can do anything you put your mind to,’” Drenth said.

Weighing heavily on the minds of Maine South’s Hawks early Saturday was their loss to Evanston on Friday night.

Maine South hadn’t won a single event in the Central Suburban League South dual.

“The goal today was to erase that memory by performing well here,” Hawks coach Don Kura said.

His crew did that decidedly at the outset in Hoffman Estates, beginning with diver Caleb Lakin’s first-place 486.35 points in the Class A division. The resolute and reigning Conant Cougar Classic champion Hawks then captured gold in each of the first five swimming events and wound up with a vast total of 19 championships overall.

Loss? What loss to Evanston?

Maine South cruised to the team title with 384 points, ahead of Conant (350), District 300 (239), Deerfield (236), Downers Grove North (224), Mundelein (220), Rolling Meadows (122) and Saint Viator (17).

“The seniors wanted to show our younger teammates that it’s possible to shake off an off day pretty quickly,” said Hawks senior captain Sean Forrest, who swam on the victorious 200 medley relay (B division, 1:44.94).

Maine South freshman Michael Saviski churned on three winning freshman relays (200 medley, 200 free, 400 free), as did classmates Charles McCauley, Sam Doubleday and Diego Louise.

“Michael,” Forrest said, “is tough, works like a dog and holds himself to a high standard.”

Runner-up Conant — paced my junior Dominik Kurek’s meet- and pool-record 58.67 in the 100 breaststroke — won 10 events.

Kurek’s meet didn’t start out so swimmingly.

“I swam 4 seconds slower in the 200 IM than I did in the event (Friday against Fremd),” said Kurek, also the school-record holder in the 100 breast (58.42). “My coaches told me afterward, ‘Don’t focus on times for the rest of the meet, just swim.’”

Swim he did. Rapidly. Kurek zipped to a 21.03 split for the triumphant 200 free relay, dominated the field in the 100 breast and then anchored the winning 400 free relay (3:13.25) after legs from Alex Seeman, Michal Ryba and Ayden Woo, who had a tremendous day in the home water, collecting four Division-A gold medals.

District 300 senior captain Luke Johnson sped to both of his club’s wins, clocking a meet-record in the 200 IM (2:00.25) and a 54.88 in the 100 backstroke.

District 300’s team comprises athletes from Jacobs, Dundee-Crown and Hampshire,

“Luke is more introspective than ever as a swimmer,” District 300 coach Molly Gomberg said. “And he’s willing to try different approaches, different things. He’ll come up to me after a race and say, ‘I thought I did x, y, and z. What do you think?’

“We’re lucky to have him swim for us. I’m lucky I get to coach him.”

Mundelein received championship efforts from Marek Sikora (200 IM, Class B) and divers Caden McDermott (Class C, 262.2) and Jeffrey Tieman (Class B, 309.55).

Downers Grove North’s Ben Cameron touched first in the 100 back (Class B, 59.34), and all three of the Trojans’ freshman relays silvered.

Rolling Meadows fielded a shorthanded squad, with returning state qualifier Emanuel Anguelov and three JVers out due to illness.

“That hurts at a meet like this,” said Mustangs coach Monika Chiappetta, referring to the multiple divisions in relays (F, C, B, and A) and the individual events (C, B, and A). “(Junior) Owen Kalweit, a quiet worker, stood out for us in the 200 free, swimming a personal-best (2:06.11, Class C).”

Chiappetta’s son, junior Max Chiappetta, competes for District 300 and bronzed in the 500 free with a non-tapered time of 5:02.97, only 4 seconds shy of his personal-best in the event.

“It’s a treat for me, as a mom coaching another team, to watch Max swim on a weekend,” Monika said.

Other champions in the Class A division on Saturday included Maine South’s 200 medley relay (Nicholas Drcha, Dragos Cozma, Ben Przekota, Alex Wiacek, 1:39.44); Max Fraley (200 free, 1:57.25); and Wiacek (50 free, 22.1); Conant’s Woo (200 free, 1:46.75; 500 free, 4:55.08); Seeman (100 free, 48.61); and 200 free relay (Seeman, Ryba, Woo and Kurek, 1:27.79).

“Our guys fought through,” Drenth said. “The last half of the meet, I heard, ‘My legs are gone and so are my arms.’ But you’d never know it, based on our outstanding results.”

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