Barrington's O'Leary, St. Viator's Balcerak aging up nicely
For Barrington's Colin O'Leary, consider his performance at this weekend's boys swimming state preliminaries a kind of confirmation.
Yes, without question, he's now among the elite swimmers in Illinois.
O'Leary, a sophomore produced a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday at New Trier, in a time just a shade off the lifetime-best effort that qualified him for the event.
That's a big step up from the previous year's experience, which ended without an individual race on the second day of the meet.
And this year, his prelim time of 51.17 in the backstroke exceeded even O'Leary's own expectations.
"It really ended up a lost faster than I thought I could be," he said. "I did come into this meet hoping to score some points, but getting into finals, that was a bit of a surprise."
Perhaps for O'Leary, but not so much for his coach, John Valentine.
"With Colin, we were able taper him specifically for this weekend," said Valentine. "That really makes a difference, of course. And it's the major difference for him between last year and this year."
O'Leary's return is also among the reasons Valentine can look forward to a bunch more second-day state meet racers next year. Of the six Broncos who raced at New Trier over the weekend, four will return next season.
Valentine said a key loss would be senior Chase Lesniak, who raced in the prelims in the 100 breaststroke. His most valuable contributions might have been the intangibles he brought to the team.
"This is a tough sport," Valentine said. "The practices are hard. On our team, a guy like Chase was invaluable because he really helped set the kind of tone we needed. He made workouts fun for everybody, and over the course of a season, it has to be fun."
Another kind of fun is getting to race on the last day of the season.
O'Leary was already looking forward to that as he dried off following the last swim of his high school season.
In an event that was dominated by seniors such as record-setting champion Max St. George of Wheaton co-op, O'Leary will have the second-fastest returning time next season.
"I feel like this year, it's something I'll be able to draw from," he said. "It's like, 'I've done this, I know what it's like.' I think that will only help."
St. Viator freshman Michael Balcerak had a similar feeling following a pair of point-scoring efforts.
In the 200 freestyle, Balcerak placed ninth, finishing in 1:42.74. In the 100 free, he was 12th after touching in 46.87.
The finish in the 100 free didn't seem to please him, but leave it to coach Jamie Klotz to bring some perspective.
"I said, look, you're the only freshman in Illinois to have even qualified for finals in those races," Klotz said. "To be a freshman and race twice on Saturday, I think that's a heck of an accomplishment. He should be very proud of that - I'm know I am."
Balcerak improved on his qualifying spot by one place in the 200 free. He later said he felt fine about how the weekend had unfolded as his first season of high school swimming came to a close.
"I've got great teammates and a great coach," he said, "and I feel like I had my best swims at the end of the year."
• Hinsdale Central placed all three of its relays in finals and won its first state championship since the 1988-89 season. The Red Devils' Franco Reyes had one of the most impressive finals races, winning the 100 fly by more than 1.5 seconds in 47.72.
Hinsdale Central led a tightly grouped top four with 126 points, ahead of Peoria Notre Dame (114), Naperville Central and Glenbrook South (113 apiece). New Trier (103) was fifth, and Metea Valley, which got a 1-2 finish in the 100 breast from Jordan O'Brien and Matt Salerno, was sixth at 99.
• New Trier senior Murphy McQuet won both the 200 free (1:37.71) and 100 free (44.79). Other individual winners were O'Fallon's Sean Workman in the 200 IM (1:49.38), Glenbrook South's Jon Salomon in the 50 free (20.52) and Sam Iida in the 500 free (4:31.13) and Wheaton co-op's Max St. George in the 100 back (48.20).
• Maine West junior Anthony Alonzi was the top finisher in two races for athletes with disabilities. He had the top finish both the 100 breaststroke (1:15.24) and the 50 free (26.11). Fremd junior Daniel Suero and Elk Grove freshman Jack Faleczyk also competed in the finals session.
• Marian Catholic's Joe Cifelli had the only state record with a staggering 555.40 score in diving. That supplants a mark that persisted for almost 40 years - a 537.722 by Hinsdale Central's Dave Boldebuck in 1976.