Boys swimming: After winning Neuqua Valley sectional, Marmion sets sights on state trophy

After a pair of second-place finishes in freestyle races last year at state, the bar has been set very high for Oswego senior Chase Maier.

After his races at the Neuqua Valley sectional on Saturday, it looks as if the talented swimmer is ready to reach for the gold in the 200 and 500 races at next week’s state meet, not to mention lead his team to some lofty relay finishes as well.

Maier won the 500 free with a pool record time of 4:30.36 at the sectional meet and won the 200 with a time of 1:38.45. He also joined teammates Owen Lippoldt, Ethan Schrader and freshman Tyler Liska to claim the meet’s final event, winning the 400 free relay with another pool record (3:03.84).

“I had already gotten the 500 record earlier this season, which I just broke [again] by a little bit,” said Maier, who was state runner-up in both the 200 and 500 last year, races which were both won by seniors now graduated. “I was looking to go a little bit faster, but I was saving it for next week and also I was saving a little for that 200 free relay [which followed the 500].”

With Maier, Lippoldt and others coming up big, Oswego led the team standings for much of the day before Marmion eventually took first at 252 points. Neuqua Valley was second at 230 and Oswego a close third at 227. Naperville Central (163) and Naperville North (136) rounded out the top five in the team standings.

“Owen and Tyler going 1-2 in the 50 and the 100, that really got our team hyped up there,” Maier said. “We were looking to get first or second as a team. It was close but Marmion beat us out.”

Marmion coach Glenn Brown, who also coaches the girls powerhouse program at Rosary, has his sights set on a state trophy next week.

“This is the first one in a while for Marmion,” Brown said of claiming the sectional plaque. “I don’t remember the last time they won one. I keep telling the boys, sectionals is good for one thing, to get the kids to state. The boys were great about it.”

After powering the team to a sixth-place finish in the state last year, returners Nagel, Capen, Dan Ginaitis and Evan Conti have all been solid this season and again on Saturday.

Ginaitis swam on the winning 200 medley relay, Capen won the 200 IM, Nagel was first in the 100 fly, and the Cadets won the 200 free relay as Nagel, Capen, Sam Russell and Conti clocked a 1:24.52. In the 100 backstroke, Conti won in 50.56 and teammate Patrick O’Connor was second at 51.02.

“It’s a special group of boys. Everybody was going best times. We have a lot of things that we can correct to go faster next week,” Brown said. “We’re not gonna beat Hinsdale Central, but we want to win a trophy. That’s our goal.”

The host Wildcats didn’t win a single event on Saturday, but they swam their best meet of the year, dropping times all over the place and qualifying a slew of swimmers for next week’s state finals.

“We had a lot of guys who were seeded seventh so they were in the second to fastest heat,” coach Chad Allen said. “Every time we won that heat we ended up making state qualifying cut which is good. It was just a total team effort. We made 16 out of a possible 19 cuts so that’s the most we’ve had in several years.”

All three Wildcat relays advanced to state and senior Tony Newton led the way, qualifying for state in the 50 free, 200 free relay, 100 backstroke and the 400 free relay.

“I thought senior Tony Newton probably had the best meet,” Allen said “He swam all lifetime bests. He’s never been at the state meet and now he’s in four events as a senior. That’s fun for him.”

Neuqua’s highest finishes came in the 200 IM where Jack Langan (1:52.55) made the cut while taking second to Marmion’s Brayden Capen, the 100 butterfly where Peter Carroll (50.25) was second to Marmion’s Braden Nagel (49.96), and in the 100 breaststroke, where Braden Meurer added another runner-up finish in 56.61.

In that 100 breastroke, Naperville North’s Mason Hofmann won with a time of 55.68 and six swimmers made the state cut, including Naperville Central’s Robert Hargrove who took third. The Huskies senior didn’t quite match his time from the conference meet two weeks ago, but he feels he’s ready for a strong showing next week.

“I was coming off a pretty good conference two weeks ago and my goal was just to match that time. I added a little bit of time but I’m in an old suit and I’m not shaved and I think that puts me in a good spot for state,” said Hofmann, who followed up his breaststroke race by jumping right back into the pool for the next event, the 400 free relay. “The only goal [today] is to hit that state qualifying time and Friday and Saturday next week is when it really matters.

“That’s not my favorite thing, swimming the 100 breaststroke right before the 400 relay,” he added. “I skipped the awards and ran straight to the bench. The goal was just to get my heart rate down which didn’t really happen. My head was spinning for the 400 relay, but you got to get it done.”

In that 400 relay that closed out the meet, Hofmann teamed with Maksim Fedorovskiy, Jack Reif, and Joshua Leu to finish third with a state-qualifying time of 3:08.70. Marmion was right behind the record-setting Oswego quartet in second at 3:04.61 and Neuqua Valley’s fourth-place relay team also advanced to state.

In diving, Oswego’s Anthony Hintz was first with a score of 407.40 and Naperville Central sophomore Noah Pickett scored 400.95 to take second.