Boys swimming: Scouting northwest
Scouting boys swimming
Barrington — The Broncos are changing focus a bit this year and aiming for peak performances at the state meet, as opposed to qualifying efforts at the sectional. Barrington has a talented group, but the team also lost some tough seniors in Matt Lee, Greg Alexander and Dan Comyn; multiple-years state qualifier Leo Hayden opted not to swim high school this winter. That’s the bad news; here’s the good: Individual state qualifiers Jack Strass (sprints), Kyle Ujiye (fly, sprints) and Connor Kobida (breaststroke) just keep improving and are among the Mid-Suburban League’s top competitors. Barrington also has an elite diver in senior Nolan Presmyk. The Broncos figure to have excellent dual meet depth with competitors such as seniors Joe Lagoni, Mike Palarz, Patrick Leighton, Tom Clement and Alex Seizovic, juniors Chris Vega and James Rodney and sophomore Sebastian Piekarski. Freshman Chase Lesniak is contributing already at the varsity level in breaststroke. “This year we have a special group of kids who are willing to do the hard work necessary to succeed,” said Barrington coach John Valentine.
Buffalo Grove — Senior Ian Rodriguez had a eye-popping victory in the state meet consolation heat of the 100-yard backstroke last year, winning it from an outside lane at New Trier. His teammates seems to have followed suit in the off-season, and the Bison look poised to take a collective quantum leap forward this winter. Rodriguez is turning in backstroke times far ahead of his mid-season times of last year and has regularly been in the 48-second range in the 100 free. Swimming the 200 IM is also a possibility, and his versatility makes him a key component in duals as BG pursues the MSL East championship. Junior Matt Schulstad has taken dramatic steps forward since last season and has been a force in everything he’s raced so far (IM, fly, breastroke, sprints). Jon Mass is poised to become an elite sprinter. The Bison have a terrific diver in senior Julian Vasquez and a host of developing swimmers such as Nick Boukas and K.C. Lotzer who could make a big difference by season’s end. Coach Jamie Klotz credits assistant coach Tim O’Hagan with helping the Bison make gains across the board with a helpful weights program. Buffalo Grove passed a key dual test Friday by topping Hersey and hopes to reclaim the East Division title after a two-year hiatus.
Conant — It sure looks like a breakthrough season for the Cougars. Whereas most area teams approach the season with questions and spend a couple of months searching for solutions, Conant already has answers. Certainly it always stings to lose a state-level sprinter such as Palmer Lynch, but coach Brian Drenth is seeing huge leaps from his returning contributors. Start with Jonathon Burke, who established himself as a distance standout as a sophomore last season but also has enough speed to be a force on relays. Sophomore Alex Shozda has great sprint speed and versatility, excelling in the free, fly and backstroke. Senior Alan Wojciechowski is another sprinter with a terrific butterfly, sprint freestyle and big-meet experience. Martin Pozniak is a sophomore who’s already among the MSL’s elite in the 100 fly and the 100 backstroke; he also has great sprint speed. Seniors Brandon Grzegorek and Matt Nagorzanski excel in the breaststroke; seniors David Wollschlager, Jason Brushaber, Ryan Haman, and Austin Zang, juniors Adrian Lisowki, Takuma Tanabe, Zon Wang and Oleksandr Kuzura and sophomore Kazuki Morita provide uncommonly good dual meet depth. And senior diver John Maevski has been among the league’s best for three years running. Conant is a team with depth, balance, championship meet ability and loads of relay options. It will be fun to see just how far this team can go this year.
Elk Grove — The top performer back for Elk Grove is senior Marek Burtan, who is excelling in the freestyle sprints. But the Grens have taken a collective step up as Colin Williams has broken one minute in the 100 fly, Michael Kosciarz has been strong in the backstroke, ditto for Bart Kosciarz in the breaststroke, Krystian Szczepaniak is contributing on relays and Joseph Kraemer has been near the 200 mark in diving.
Fremd — Coach Kristen Newby is looking at all options as a relatively inexperienced group tries to prove itself. Returning is versatile junior Dennis Kostidis; he’s a returning state qualifier whose favorite race is the 200 free but can swim just about anything event in the lineup. Junior Andrew King is making strides in the freestyles; sophomore Nick Pappas has shown a strong IM; seniors Ian Assmann, James Tokuda and Takuzo Kimura will hold key spots in the varsity lineup along with sophomores Michael Chemello and Lucas Stark. It’s a year of redefing the team as the Vikes are without graduate standouts Jeff Freund and Dustin Anderson. “It’s going to take some time,” said Newby, “but we have guys who are startign to accept the challenge.”
Hersey — The Huskies have reason for optimism. Senior Alex Roznai continues to make strides and figures to lead the team with state-meet potential in the 100 fly; he’ll also be key on all the relays. Sam Kim is establishing himself as a first-rate sprinter, and Jamey Hill is tough in the longer races as well as the backstroke. Diver Mat Obstoj won the MSL frosh-soph meet and will help this year a the varsity level. Swimming depth comes from Michael Kintzle, Connor Reynolds and Alex Niemiec, and depth is where the Huskies face their challenge. Overall numbers certainly isn’t a problem, as coach Dick Mortensen had 64 turn out for the team — but 42 were freshmen. One goal for the team is to qualify a swimmer or two for state, a drought Mortensen would like to see end.
Hoffman Estates — Coach Josh Schumacher has a state meet veteran in 200 freestyler Nick Jessee, and it looks as though another Hawk has a chance to make the big met at season’s end. Sang W. Han broke a team record from 1987 in the 100 breaststroke in last’s weekend’s Glenbrook South sprint invitational and has been closing in on the one-minute mark. Schumacher says seniors Jack Minogue, Matt Brajczewski, and Steven Jatich are setting the tone with good work habits for a team that is on balance quite young. One exception is standout senior diver Nick Cannella, who is adding degree of difficulty to his already impressive repertoire.
Maine West — Veteran assistant coach Mike Tuntland takes over for Ryan Claus and has a nice group of developing swimmers. The most accomplished among them look like Matt Boesche (backstroke, IM), Michael Connor (distance freestyle), A.J. Unander (sprints), Alex Buchaniec (breaststroke) and Mike Picchiotti (freestyles).
Palatine — Coach Kyle Sorensen has an exceptionally young team, but he’s also exceptionally pleased with the work habits it is showing. Juniors Robert Hank (back, sprints) and Christian Kalfas (sprints) lead the way this year. There’s a host of swimmers making strides, such as sophomores Mitchell Brustad (fly, sprints) and Omar El Hoffi (breaststroke) and junior Jeremy Sommerfeld (breast, IM). Freshman Jacob Baran is showing aptitude and ability in the long distance events. And senior diver Carter Sanecki, a league standout, is helping guide a young group of learning divers. “We’re all excited about the season,” Sorensen said. “I think we all expect to see a lot of progress this year.”
Prospect — This is a year coach Alfonso Lopez hopes some of last season’s development becomes apparent. Andrew Younger excels in distance races and has been anchoring both freestyle relays; Matthew Rendino has taken a step up in the sprints; Nathanael Ginnodo’s breaststroke keeps improving and his 200 IM is strong; Matt Muniz is putting up solid diving scores. Other varsity contributors include Carter Mau (freestyles), Liam Hansen (backstroke), Marc Pontello (breaststroke), Sam Gabriel (backstroke), Phillip Dukes (fly, sprints) and Michael Morikado (fly, free).
Rolling Meadows — Coach Monika Chiappetta loves her hard-working group this season. The Mustangs have potential state qualifier in junior sprint freestyler Artie Checchin, who’s already been under 23 seconds in the 50 and in the mid-51 range in the 100. Kevin Fitzsimons (distance) and Patrick Waterloo (fly) are among the key holdovers from last season, and Chiappetta like how a promising young group is pushing some of the upperclassmen. Freshman Jake Barson has already by 1:08 in the 100 breaststroke, and his classmate Ryan Smith has been 1:05 in the 100 backstroke. “I’ve got a highly motivated bunch this season,” said Chiappetta, “and it’s really encouraging.”
Schaumburg — Coach Brian Ragano takes over for the retired Tom Gallagher and has a group that saw a lot of varsity action last season. Making off-season gains was freestyler Dan Hartzman, who clocked a 56.52 SCM 100 free time in a recent dual against Prospect and has top-end sprint freestyle ability. Other keys for the Saxons are seniors Randy Carr (breaststroke, IM), Erik Heitman (back, sprints), Marty Kwiatkowski (sprints), Matt Le (sprints), Adam Poniatowski (sprints), Patrick Halpin, Julian Vasquez and David Nytko (sprints). The Saxons will also get varsity contributions from junior Dylan Giesel (fly, sprints) and freshman James Birriel (sprints); Schaumburg’s top diver is senior Symon Los.
St. Viator — The Lions will be captained by Anthony DiSilvestro, Jack Miller and Steven Jensen. Coach Mary Ruffin and assistant coach Adam Gambro are excited about a promising season ahead. In addition to the captains, the main varsity contributions will come from Steve Jensen, Joe LaMantia, Tommy Madaras, Sean McDermott, Brennan McGuire and James Pickering. Freshmen Charlie Wood, Keegan Finn and Brendon Calderson figure to bear watching as well.
Wheeling — The Wildcats picked up some momentum last season under coach Tod Schwager and have a group capable of extending that surge this season. One key returner is the versatile Bryce Maczko; others who gained experience while making strides last year include Mike Boom (sprints) and Ethan Rosengarden (fly, sprints). Joining them in having an impact so far this season are Ben Reiff (IM) and Dan Shriber (back). “We are working on holding our position in the East,” Schwager said. “We have a good core to continue to build the program on.”