Boys swimming: Vernon Hills’ Plaksin accomplishes a first twice

Moments before Vernon Hills junior Yury Plaksin made program history at Saturday’s boys swimming and diving state meet at FMC Natatorium in Westmont, Cougars coach Jim Pardun — standing poolside — slowly raised his right arm.

Plaksin looked up at his winning time of 20.09 in the 50-yard freestyle and then did something completely different with his right arm.

The native of Belarus smacked the water in front of him. Hard.

And jubilantly.

“That was unusual, seeing that kind of emotion from Yury,” Pardun said. “But that was his moment, after putting the team ahead of his needs all season. Good for Yury. I want to cry for him right now; I’m that happy for him.”

Until Saturday, a male Vernon Hills swimmer hadn’t finished first in an event at state since the school opened in 1999.

Plaksin later doubled his state gold medal haul, clocking an electric 43.54 in the 100 free. This time, a beaming Pardun thrust both of his arms straight up and pumped them repeatedly.

“Yury,” the coach said, “destroyed his goal time of 43.8. He’s such a fantastic athlete. What makes him so good in the sprints is his explosive power. Plus, he has great reaction time, and his feel for the water is immeasurable.”

A sense of relief triggered the Harvard recruit’s uncharacteristic exuberance after he touched first in the 50 free.

“That race was so close,” said Plaksin, who moved from Belarus to the United States with his family before the start of his freshman year and finished runner-up in the 100 free and third in the 200 free at state last year.

“Every millisecond counted,” he added. “I was excited, too.”

Out of the water, Plaksin’s a winner too — in spades.

“He’s the nicest kid in the hallways at school, relatable to everybody,” Pardun said. “No ego whatsoever. He’s the greatest, period.”

Stevenson, meanwhile, produced many exclamation-point-worthy swims en route to its sixth-place showing (128 points) under the direction of first-year coach Joe Gibson. Juniors Allan Zhu and Kasper Lee sped to third place in the 100 breaststroke (55.31) and 100 backstroke (47.65), respectively.

Each also swam on a top-six relay. Lee joined seniors Joshua Wang, Kyler Chou and Armeet Gill to take the bronze in the 200 medley (1:31.03), and Zhu collaborated with Chou, Wang and Gill to finish sixth in the 200 free (1:24.22).

“Our focus this meet was to do anything we could to put us in the best position to get a (top-three) trophy,” Zhu said. “That elevated and pushed all of us yesterday (in Friday’s prelims) and today.”

Hinsdale Central (251 points) captured its fourth straight state title behind a trio of state-record efforts. Marmion (214) and Glenbrook South (203) finished 2-3.

“So much depth, with such a great tradition,” Gibson said of Stevenson’s program. “It’s going to be sad, seeing Joshua, Kyler, Armeet and others graduate. What a season Armeet had. He was a JV swimmer a year ago and entered this season known more for his abilities in water polo.

“He’s leaving here today as a two-time state medalist.”

Senior Kaleb Lakin paced Maine South (17th place, 33 points) with a fifth-place showing in diving (500.35 points), two spots ahead of Vernon Hills sophomore Coady Blumenfeld (486.15). Maine South Hawks David Mazurek, Nick Drcha, Charles McCauley and Michael Saviski combined legs for a 12th-place 1:25.82 in the 200 free relay.

Fremd (18th, 31 points) was led by senior Marcus Witkowski, who took seventh in the 100 back (49.36), and junior Alex Ivanov, who touched 12th in the 200 free (1:41.65).

Mundelein junior Jack Hansen was eighth in diving (465.9 points).

Prospect sophomore Adam Banas emerged as the top Mid-Suburban League diver at state, tallying 441.7 points (seventh).

Barrington senior Will Pinchot, ranked 12th among state qualifiers in the 50 free, took home an eighth-place medal in the event with a time of 21.04.

Conant senior Dominik Kurek placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke (56.56). Cougars junior Trevor Hanson swam in four events for athletes with disabilities and silvered in each. He dropped more than 3 seconds off his seed time in the 50 free.

Newly minted two-time champ Plaksin had enough left in him to help Vernon Hills’ 200 free relay place 11th (1:25.53). Maruthi Kavuri, Will Blackmer and Edgar Chan swam the other legs.

Vernon Hills (12th, 66 points) finished in the top 12 at state in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Last year’s squad placed eighth (106 points).