Boys swimming: Neuqua Valley repeats as DuPage Valley Conference champion

Reload, not rebuild.

That’s been the motto that has kept the Neuqua Valley’s boys swimming program among the top teams in the state for several years now. This year’s team may not have the elite talent that past programs had, but the current Wildcats are mighty deep and mighty talented.

While claiming its second straight DuPage Valley Conference crown Saturday at its home pool, Neuqua Valley piled up points in every event while topping the six-team field with 306.50 points. Naperville North was second at 269 and Waubonsie Valley third at 217, just a single point ahead of Naperville Central.

Senior Arun Kaura was one several veteran Wildcats to shine in the conference meet, but freshman Blake Torpey also put on a show and looks ready to make big contributions to the program for years to come.

Kaura won the 200 free with a time of 1:43.45 and also won the 500 free in 4:45.10. Metea Valley’s Colin Louden was second in the 200, while Naperville Central’s Grant James took second in the 500.

“Something I like to do as an athlete is to compare my times from the exact same meet as last year,” said Kaura, seventh in the state in the 500 last year and top 16 in the 200 free. “I think I dropped like seven seconds from last year in the 500, and then I jumped like 3-4 seconds in the 200 individual, so it’s looking pretty good.”

Kaura also helped the Wildcats place second in both the 200 and 400 free relays. Naperville North captured each of those relay crowns Saturday but needed to be at its best to edge the Wildcats. The Huskies quartet of Max Fedorovskiy, Hudson Labinsky, Kevin Chen and Alejandro Delgado recorded a 1:26.02 to win the 200 relay, then the day’s final event was a back-and-forth thriller before the Huskies pulled out the 400.

In that final race, Neuqua Valley held a slight edge early on before Labinsky, Joshua Leu, Chen and Federovskiy eventually prevailed 3:10.99 to 3:11.45.

“I think it’s good practice going into sectional and state,” Naperville North’s Fedorovskiy said of battling Neuqua in the conference meet. “Once we get into those (sectional and state) meets it will be up against teams more like Neuqua. It’s really good practice racing against guys that are really good. It puts us in a good spot.”

Torpey has quickly found himself in a good spot, claiming DVC titles in the 200 IM (1:53.99) and the 100 butterfly (51.07) as a freshman and contributing solid times in the Wildcats relays.

“I feel like it went amazing,” the 14-year-old said. “I had some great swims and unexpected times. It was a lot of fun. To see the kids swim fast as the year ends, we did really well. Back-to-back DVC champions. That was awesome.”

The Wildcats will face another tough sectional field in two weeks, one that includes state runner-up Marmion, but coach Chad Allen expects his team to do well there and then to improve on last year’s 10th-place finish at state.

“It’s probably the deepest team I’ve ever had, but we don’t have that guy like Connor Boyle, or the past stars,” said Allen, who coached all-American Boyle, who went on to swim at Virginia. “We’ve got you know seven or eight guys who can make contributions.

“We were 10th in state last year and we’re hoping to improve on that. Hoping to be there around the top five or so.”

Neuqua won the 200 medley relay in 1:35.87. In the 100 breaststroke, Braden Meurer took first for the Wildcats in 58.61 and Jack Langan added third-place points. But Allen couldn’t overlook how well Torpey fared in his first conference meet.

“Blake’s a special one. He came alive today. He’s a competitor. We knew he was going to be good and he’s right on track. He’s definitely a racer,” Allen said.

Another freshman, Naperville North’s Hudson Labinsky, also had a big day. He won the 50 free with a time of 21:09 and was part of the winning 400 and 200 free relays for the Huskies.

Waubonsie Valley’s Logan Dilallo took first in diving with a score of 356.45, and Metea Valley’s Louden won the 100 free. For DeKalb, Sean Harrelson had a solid day that included placing third in the 50 free and second in the 100 breast.