Scouting DuPage County boys swimming
Top teams: Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Naperville North.
Top swimmers and divers: Addison Trail/Willowbrook: Jack Burns, jr.; Evan Zimmerman, jr.; Benet: Ryan Shanley, sr.; Ryan Flynn, jr.; Andrew Prisby, sr.; Justin Vasko, sr.; Colin Flynn, so.; Ian Smith, jr.; Downers Grove North: Ben Ellstrom, sr.; Jack Costello, sr.; Kevin Sullivan,(diver) jr.; Glenbard North/East co-op: Peter Andreev, sr.; Bennet Witteveen, sr.; Christian Vergara-Hernandez, jr.; Hinsdale Central: Billy Leader, sr.; Cole Grosshans, sr.; Donovan Lahmann, jr.; Trystan Lundgren, jr. Frankie Morrissey, jr.; Cullen Cochlan, so.; Conor Dunne, jr.; Hinsdale South: Tommy Matulis, so.; Connor Kaplan, jr.; Lake Park: Ben Kimmel, so.; Eric Bayer, sr.; Metea Valley: Michael Chan, sr.; Janssen Gamilla, sr.; Ben Forbes¸sr.; Sam Kastan, jr.; Austin Martinson, so.; Naperville Central: Adam Kowalyshen, jr.; Luke Klein-Collins, jr.; Dominic May, sr.; Brad Sanford, jr.; Andrew Dai, so.; Ben Russo, sr.; Wyatt Weaver (diver) jr.; Cameron Kalish (diver)), jr.; Goncalo Wanzeller, fr.; Naperville North: Horace Qiao, sr.; Josh Tak, sr.; Noah Ellis, sr.; Joey Yuan, jr.; Calvin Chow, sr.; Grant Bochenski, fr.; Andrew Li; fr.; Neuqua Valley: Kyri Chen, sr.; John Ruan, sr.; Kevin Wu, sr.; Jack Hiss, jr.; Sathya Subramanian, jr.; Waubonsie Valley: Jared Simpson, sr, Bryan Ellig, sr.; Cole Steffl, sr.; Aayush Deshpande, so.; Jake Darlinger, jr.; Ryan Ruhde jr.; Lucas Conrads, fr.; Reilly Tremain (diver), jr.; West Chicago: Keegan Hawkins sr.; Teegan Cook, fr.; York: Branko Kosanovich, so.
Outlook: If you want a firsthand look at what's going on with boys high school swimming in the western suburbs, circle the weekend of Dec. 15-16 on your calendar and attend the Neuqua Valley Invite. The yearly event, always one of the great early season meets, will be especially strong this year featuring five of the top 10 teams from last year's state meet.
The invite, which features diving on Friday night, and swimming on Saturday will include state runner-up Hinsdale Central and all five Naperville-area public schools, all of which expect to be strong at sectionals and state this year.
"Our guys are already excited to host the invite," said Neuqua Valley coach Chad Allen. "It's always a good meet, because it's early in the season and you get a chance to see your team against top competition, and you have the chance to see what's going on with the other teams."
In addition to Hinsdale Central, this year's visitors include St. Charles East, which finished fifth, St. Charles North, which was eighth and archrivals Naperville North and Naperville Central which tied for ninth. Add to that Waubonsie Valley (17th) and Neuqua Valley (22nd) two teams that suffered relay team disqualifications at state that prevented them from finishing higher in the standings. Metea Valley finished 26th, but the young Mustangs are looking stronger and deeper than last year.
Waubonsie Valley, led by all-star versatile racer Simpson would rate, at least in the preseason, as the top DuPage Valley Conference team. But all the other District 203 and 204 schools are close.
"I'm looking at great energy and focus from our guys in practice," said Waubonsie Valley coach Nick Arens. "They are developing an atmosphere of success and everyone is pushing himself to the limit."
The Warriors' No. 1 guy is Simpson, who will attend Harvard in the fall. He finished fourth at state in the 100 backstroke and ninth in the 200 IM, and he's also one of the key operatives on the Warriors' relay teams, which return most of the personnel from last year.
"Jared has a great work ethic and positive attitude," Arens said. "He's versatile enough to swim any event in both individual and relay races. He's a team leader and he's swimming with even more confidence this year."
Ellig, who finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke, is an explosive athlete, who is looking for better things this year. The coach believes that Deshpande and Steffl could earn the Warriors some points at state. They are backed by state relay veterans Ruhde and Darlinger and a strong incoming freshman class that will provide the competition to push everyone to greater heights.
Several coaches believe that the Warriors' main challenger for DVC supremacy will be Naperville North. The Huskies' leader in the pool, Qiao, who finished top six in both the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly, is one of the fastest in the state and he's hoping for a top-three finish in two events this year.
Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter sees Qiao, who will attend Brown, as more relaxed this year and focused on helping his teammates achieve success.
"He's continued to improve," McWhirter said. "He has increased his dedication to working in the weight room and he's sharing his joy of swimming with everyone else on the team."
The coach also believes that Tak in the breaststroke and Ellis in both the backstroke and the 100 free are ready to finish in the top 12 in their senior years.
Last year's two scoring relays, the 200 medley and the 400 free relay will be up among the leaders with most of the relay swimmers back and a good group of youngsters pushing to fill out the teams.
"The talent among the five Naperville schools is pretty even," McWhirter said. "All five schools are will be strong in dual meets and invites, and they're capable of making some noise at state."
Neuqua Valley, with three of four swimmers returning in all three relays, believes that its depth and experience can help the Wildcats improve to a top-10 finish. Coach Chad Allen believes that Chen, Ruan and Subramanian can score in their individual races. As veterans of state meet competition, they will give the Wildcats the leadership to take them to another level.
"We can finish top ten if we hit those relays," said Allen. "We have about six guys competing for the open spots. Kyri and John could be the key to our season. They are both leaders, hard workers and they've improved a lot."
Naperville Central lost 20 seniors from last year, but coach Mike Adams believes the Redhawks have the kids waiting in the wings to fill those spots.
"We have the people to take over," Adams said. "We have a lot to prove and a lot of work to do, but we have a group of guys with potential to step right in."
May is a talented freestyler who swam on all three relays last year, while Kowalyshen and Russo are returning qualifiers.
Metea Valley may be more of a work in progress than its Naperville rivals, but the Mustangs are more experienced than last year and developing the depth that should make them a factor at the end of the year.
Forbes, Gamilla and Kastan return from the scoring 200 medley relay team and Chan finished just outside the top 12 in the backstroke. Coach Mark Jager believes the Gamilla can score in the 100 fly.
"We have some younger kids who will challenge our veterans for the remaining relay spots," Jager said. "I think we have the potential to score in two relays and possibly three individual events. We had more people come out for the team than ever before, so we're developing the numbers."
That brings us to Hinsdale Central, last year's second place finisher at state. The Red Devils' Franco Reyes, the state champion in the 100 butterfly and second-place finisher in the 50 free, has moved on to Georgia Tech, but practically everyone else is back, making Bob Barber's team a contender for a medal once again.
"We'll try and fill Franco's shoes as a team," Barber said. "Most everyone else is back from all three relays that scored. We have great senior leadership. And everyone wants to improve on the second-place finish. They've all worked hard in the off-season and I'd like to think that we can compete for the state title."
Lahmann, Grosshans and Lundgren are outstanding swimmers who scored at state last year and are looking to improve this year.
Among the other teams in DuPage County, Benet will be led by returning state qualifier Prisby and Shanley, who could have a breakout season in the backstroke and several freestyle events.
"We were close to qualifying in all three relays," coach Ben Gensler said. "We'd like to take that next step this year by qualifying the relays and a few individual swims."
For the Glenbard North-East co-op Andreev is one of the top sprinters in the state qualifying and finishing 11th in the 100 free and outside the top 12 in the 50 free. Witteveen, who came close in the 100 and the 200 free, worked hard in the off-season and is ready to make it to state this year.
"I would be shocked if he didn't qualify," said co-op coach Troy Williams.
Downers Grove North is led by outstanding returning veterans Ellstrom and Costello and the return of diver Sullivan, who missed last year with an injury after finishing in the money as a freshman.
Lake Park's Kimmel finished 11th last year in the backstroke as a freshman, but he's versatile enough to qualify in a number of events. Hawkins of West Chicago and Kosanovich of York are outstanding swimmers who are possible qualifiers in several races. Burns and Zimmerman are the best of a strong returning crew from Addison Trail/Willowbrook co-op that was great in conference, while Hinsdale South, the West Suburban Gold champ, is looking to qualify both Matulis and Kaplan.
Key dates: Dec. 9: West Chicago Wildcat Relays; Dec. 12: Neuqua Valley at Naperville Central; Dec. 14: Waubonsie Valley at Naperville North; Dec. 15-16: Neuqua Valley Invite; December 23: Naperville North College Events; Dec. 30: Waubonsie Valley Aqua Pentathlon; Jan. 11: Metea Valley at Waubonsie Valley; Jan. 13 Hinsdale Central Diving Invitational; Jan. 18: Waubonsie Valley at Neuqua Valley; Jan. 19: Downers Grove North Trojan Invite; Jan. 26: Metea Valley Mustang Invite; Feb. 2-3: Conference Swimming and Diving Meets: Feb. 17: Sectionals; Feb. 23-24: Illinois State Swimming and Diving Meet at Evanston Township High School.