Trophy a cure for Naperville North
Naperville North was hoping for some better finishes and some lower times in the finals of Saturday’s state swimming and diving meet, but given the circumstances, the Huskies were pleased to finish second behind runaway champion New Trier, which won for the second year in a row.
New Trier scored 250 points to the Huskies’ 130.
The Trevians won all three relays, while the Huskies were third in the 400-yard freestyle relay and fourth in both the 200 medley and the 200 free relay.
“We’re really happy with the results considering what we went through this week,” said Andrew Eiken, who swam on a pair of relays, also finishing third in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle. “Kevin Butz had a 103-degree fever on Thursday, others who were swimming this weekend were also sick. I had bronchitis. Realistically, the fact that we battled through and overcame this adversity made us proud,”
“Nick Bessler and I were the only ones who weren’t sick,” said Sam Hiller, who finished sixth in the 100 backstroke and swam in two relays. “We tried to separate ourselves from the group. We were healthy. We didn’t want the other guys swimming next to us.”
Coach Andy McWhirter was impressed by the courage shown by his Huskies.
“It was a tough week for us,” McWhirter said. “A lot of our top swimmers were sick. Then we got up and put in some good races on Friday. We were hoping to have enough left in the tank for the finals. Their achievements here today were fantastic. We got the medal we were shooting for and that was great.”
Bessler was third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 butterfly.
“Before the season it was my goal to finish top-six in everything I did,” said Bessler, who was also a member of both the 200 medley and the 400 free relay teams. “That happened today and I was right around the times I wanted to be.”
Butz, David Healy and Tom Hubbard also swam on the Huskies’ relay teams.
Naperville Central’s Sean Lehane was the 100 backstroke champion for the second year in a row, winning this year with a time of 49.25.
Lehane was second in Friday’s preliminary heat after diving into the pool and having his goggles fill up with water.
Jack Mangan of New Trier, who won that heat, finished second to Lehane on Saturday.
“I think Friday’s mishap helped motivate me,” Lehane said. “I felt fast in the water even though my legs gave out a little at the end. It’s a great feeling to win back-to-back championships.”
Hinsdale Central’s Danny Thomson won his third straight 500 freestyle title and in the process broke the state record for that event with a 4:18.86. He also won the 200 freestyle in 1:37.47. Lehane was second in that race and Eiken was third.
Michael Stack gave Metea Valley its first boys top-six finisher by going a 57.82 to finish fourth in the breaststroke.
Hinsdale Central finished tied for fourth in the team standings with 73 points, and Naperville Central was 12th with 33 points.
Among the other locals, Waubonsie Valley scored 17 points to finish 18th and Wheaton co-op was right behind the Warriors with 16 points on the strength of divers Liam McLaughlin and Mark Ciesielski coming in sixth and seventh, respectively.