The 2024-25 Herald Cup: Hinsdale Central repeats at No. 1
Editor’s note: Now that the 2024-25 high school sports year is over, it’s time to announce the top schools in the Herald Cup standings. We devised a points system based on team state finishes to measure which of the 80-plus high schools from the Daily Herald circulation area had the best athletic year. Last week we announced the top five small schools in the Herald Cup standings. This week we’ve unveiled the top large schools, one per day, starting with No. 5 on Monday and concluding now with No. 1.
Hinsdale Central’s tradition of athletic excellence shows no signs of slowing.
The Red Devils — who won their first state title in 1909 — added three more first-place trophies to the pile this school year with an 11th championship in boys golf, a 21st in boys swimming and a 30th in boys tennis.
After a three-season parade of success, Hinsdale Central for a second straight year placed first in the 2024-25 Herald Cup large school standings with 162 points that were calculated by weighing team finishes throughout the fall, winter and spring.
How they did it
In addition to the three team state titles, Hinsdale Central finished third in girls golf, girls tennis, boys soccer and girls lacrosse. The Red Devils added a sixth-place finish in girls swimming and were ninth in badminton.
Hinsdale Central actually had fewer teams place in state tournaments than some of the other large schools that finished lower in the Herald Cup standings. But the multiple top-three finishes pushed the Red Devils to a higher point total than in 2023-24.
Who made it happen
Nothing epitomized Hinsdale Central’s success more than the boys swimming team, which tallied 338 points in the state meet — 148 points more than second-place Marmion — and set an NFHS national record in the 200-yard medley relay.
Luke Vatev and Joshua Bey each won two individual titles while the Red Devils also won all three relays. In addition to Vatev and Bey, swimmers in the relays included Henry Guo, Matthew Vatev, Noah Pelinkovic, Frankie Adamo and Brandon Suliga.
Dru Devata and Michael Jorski posted top-10 finishes for the state champion boys golf team. The doubles team of Nicholas Marringa and Kyle McCain was a state runner-up in tennis, while Barry Zhu was sixth in singles.
Elyssa Abdullah was sixth in the state girls golf meet. Sydney Shuster and Abigail Gambla were sixth in doubles tennis.
Key stats
In five of the six postseason matches played by the girls lacrosse team, the Red Devils scored at least 13 goals and won by at least nine.
While the victory margin by the boys swimming team was one of the largest in IHSA history, it didn’t reach the gap in 1975 when Hinsdale Central’s 308 points topped second-place Fenwick by 221 points.
Brothers Matthew and Luke Vatev — a junior and sophomore, respectively — combined for six titles at the state swimming meet.
Key fact
Hinsdale Central’s boys tennis program has won the state title four straight times and in 10 of the last 13 years. The Red Devils finished second in two of the three seasons it didn’t win.
They said it
“He’s such a role model, but he’s not the only one. We have so many great swimmers on our side, and it’s just so much fun.” — Luke Vatev, talking about swimming on the same team with his older brother, Matthew.
“To be honest, we’re playing to win every tournament, and it sounds bad, but we’re surprised if we don’t.” — Constantine Verros after Hinsdale Central won the Oswego boys golf sectional.