State trophy in sight for St. Charles North

There comes a time in the swimming season when you just have to block everything out and perform.

Matt Pircon reached that point a week ago at the St. Charles North sectional, where a jammed left thumb was not going to get in the way of his qualification for the state meet.

"Once I finished, I felt it," Pircon said. "But the adrenaline just kept me going."

Pircon finished second and qualified in the 50-yard freestyle and was part of all three of the Cadets qualifying relays. The sophomore will be making his first competitive trip to the state finals, which start today in Evanston and conclude Saturday.

After more than two months of grueling practices and meets in which the byword was "swimming tired," athletes have finally gone through the resting process known as tapering and they are ready to perform at a high level.

Marmion, St. Charles North and St. Charles East all head to Evanston with a variety of aspirations in what figures to be one of the fastest swim meets in IHSA history.

St. Charles North has been propelled all year by its fifth-place finish from 2007. The North Stars were only 3 points from claiming a share of third place. Having qualified all three relays and 2 individuals in 7 of 8 swimming events, they certainly have enough entries to challenge for one of the state trophies.

"We've got some good chemistry going," St. Charles North junior Jamie Hampton said. "We've kind of figured out everyone and we're expecting some big drops."

Hampton is one of just two North Stars swimmers who tapered for the sectional meet. The season has been particularly arduous for St. Charles North.

"We stayed together as a pack and we're going to finish it out right," Hampton said.

But if the North Stars seem poised to do great things, their coach, Rob Rooney, isn't adding any pressure to perform to his squad.

"It's up to them," Rooney said. "It's up to the captains. I hope we're set up well."

Rooney said he felt the team didn't really "snap it in" until the sectional, which they won handily over second-place Marmion.

"I think that as we got through it, the guys were the ones who kept focused," Rooney said. "They're the ones who have had it in their heads all along. I just want them to stay positive about it."

The North Stars blazed a path through the water at the sectional they hosted. While that doesn't necessarily mean great things for this weekend, it certainly doesn't hurt.

"Friday at the state meet is fun," Rooney said. "It's all fun. But it's all stress too. If the kids are steering the ship and if they're steering it the right way, all I have to do is to be the cheerleader."

In Marmion's case, that means taking more than a longing look at the trophies which are on display throughout the meet in the Wildkits pool area.

"You know what?" Marmion coach Bill Schalz said. "We're swimming for a trophy. We've seen some of the top teams here and there, but not a lot. We're going to go to Evanston and do our thing."

Neuqua Valley is the odds-on favorite to win its first state title, and New Trier has competed at a high level this year. But the Cadets and North Stars are among those teams vying for the one or two trophies that will certainly be up for grabs this weekend.

"Every swimmer we've got has a shot to make finals," Schalz said. "If we can get enough swimmers into the finals and nickel and dime people to death, we might get the job done."

Last year was one of the tightest state meets in IHSA history. New Trier ran away with the state title and Glenbrook South was a solid second. But Neuqua Valley, Naperville North and St. Charles North finished within 3 points of each other. Neuqua Valley tied Naperville North for third place.

In some ways, sectional meets don't forecast anything, because the best swimmers are only partially tapered, and it's difficult to determine how much more time they will drop at the state meet. But coaches always get a feel for how their team is performing. In Marmion's case, the feeling is good.

"I'm excited," Schalz said. "This is kind of typical of the way things were back in the late 90s and 2000, when we were getting trophies. It's kind of typical of how we've done in the past when we were successful."

St. Charles East arguably doesn't have enough qualifiers to make a trophy push. But the Saints will be competitive in the water and could better last year's eighth-place finish.

"We would just like all of our individual performances to be a little better," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "It was a fast sectional and it will be fast again at the state meet. We look forward to it."

And there were moments when the Saints gave more than an indication as to their capabilities. B.J. Roth, Adam Carnell, Shane Seuschek and Ken Tiltges blazed through the 400 freestyle relay and finished third to St. Charles North and Marmion.

"Hopefully we'll go out and have twice as good a meet as we had in the sectional," Roth said. "Hopefully we'll drop the same amount of time and we'll score some points for our team."

Tiltges, Carnell and Roth were all unrested heading into the sectional.

"We're getting faster, and I'm looking forward to (the state meet)," Tiltges said.

Tiltges swam the eighth-fastest 100 breaststroke in the third of four qualifying heats at the sectional meet. Not only did Tiltges qualify from the "slow heat," he set the North Stars pool record. He will be fully-rested when he hits the water tonight.

"This is what happens," Tiltges said. "We swim tired all the time and we came into the sectional tired. But this is the time of the year when you need to swim fast."

There are other area qualifiers as well. Batavia junior Albert Roth has a pair of individual swims, as does Kaneland freshman Grant Alef. West Aurora qualified two senior divers -- Corey Buzzard and Vinni Soto.