Hill climbs into DVC record book
Jackson Hill of Naperville North has high expectations for himself and for his team at the state swimming meet in three weeks, and the results of Saturday's DuPage Valley Conference justified his optimism.
Hill broke the DVC meet record Saturday in both the 50- and the 100-yard freestyle races and swam on the record-breaking 400 freestyle relay team to lead the Huskies to their third straight conference championship.
"We think we can finish top five at state or maybe even win a trophy," Hill said. "My goals are to finish in the top six in my individual events."
Hill swam the 50 in 21.57 and the 100 in 47.75 and swam on winning teams in the 200 medley and the 400 freestyle relays.
The Huskies scored 246 points to win the DVC title, followed by Wheaton co-op with 236 and Naperville Central with 232. West Chicago (97) and West Aurora (75) rounded out the field.
That 400 free relay, the final race of the day, proved to be the winner for the Huskies, who were leading the meet by only 4 points before that event.
They won the race easily as Hill and teammates Conor Handley, Phil Lechowicz and Will Heidler finished in 3:14.54, a meet record and more than six seconds ahead of second-place Wheaton.
The Huskies -- Hill, Handley and Heidler along with Jack Ruble -- won the medley relay in 1:39.92.
"We're working hard and we're really excited about what we can do at state in all three relays," Hill said. "We have a lot of people stepping up."
Handley also had a big day, winning the 200 IM in 1:58.09 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.41.
"I was sick all week with a sinus infection," Handley said, "so I was happy to be consistent in those races."
Wheaton finished 1-2 in the 500 freestyle with Sean Brown, who also finished first in the 200 freestyle, touching just ahead of teammate Carl Sveen and Naperville Central's Chris Depew.
Brown's 500 time was 4:57.54, to 4:57.64 for Sveen and 4:57.95 for Depew.
"Going out fast was the key to holding on at the end," Brown said. "Carl and I wanted to finish 1-2, and Depew really pushed us. It's great to have competition like that."
Wheaton coach Jacob Ayers has been impressed by the improvement Brown has shown throughout the year.
"He was only our third fastest guy in the 500 last year, and now he's one of our best swimmers," Ayers said. "He's gotten so much better than he was at the beginning of the season. I think we're just touching the tip of the iceberg with him."
Brown has an explanation for his progress.
"This year is a little different because I didn't play football," Brown said. "I took a little more time to get in swimming shape before the season."
Dan Doran of Wheaton won the 100 butterfly.
Naperville Central's Bobby Rickert was the conference champion in the 100 breaststroke and Redhawks' 200 freestyle relay team of Ben Reasons, Tyler Hsieh, Chris Depew and Chris Canene was also victorious.
Vinni Soto and Corey Buzzard of West Aurora, went 1-2 in the diving competition.