Freund, Rodriguez to race again

The Illinois boys swimming and diving state meet is not for the meek.

A crowded pool deck, vicious competition, an abundance of noise — it’s a truly intense experience for the competitors.

Two Mid-Suburban League standouts met the challenge head-on in Friday’s state preliminary session at New Trier High School.

Fremd senior Jeff Freund will compete again in today’s consolation finals of the 500-yard freestyle, and Buffalo Grove junior Ian Rodriguez gets another opportunity to race in the 100 backstroke.

Freund, who won the consolation finals in the same event last season, delivered a high school-best 4:38.72, the 10th-fastest qualifying time.

Rodriguez advanced with the day’s 11th-best time in the backstroke, 52.52. That’s just slower than the state-qualifying effort he turned in at the Barrington sectional, and Buffalo Grove coach Jamie Klotz thinks Rodriguez could go faster in today’s championship session.

“I asked him before the race where he was on a nervousness scale of 1 to 10,” said Klotz, “and he said, ‘I think I’m at about a 14.’

“This meet will do that to you. But he swam well enough to get another chance to race, and really, that’s part of the process with most of the swimmers here.”

Barrington won’t be represented in today’s finals, but the Broncos had several bright spots.

Connor Kobida had a time almost identical to his sectional-winning effort last week, but in an excellent breaststroke field he placed 17th (59.68). That makes him the highest-placing freshman in the race, and of the 16 who finished ahead of him, 8 are seniors.

Broncos sophomore Jack Strauss equaled his sectional-winning time in the 100 free (47.72) and placed 19th, senior Greg Alexander turned in a season-best in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.59), and junior Leo Hayden was just fractions of a second slower than his qualifying times in the 200 free and 100 fly.

“We’re a little disappointed as a team,” said Hayden, “but on the other hand, we had a really good season. We’ll miss our seniors a lot, but we have a whole lot of guys who hope to be back here.”

One of those seniors, Matt Lee, had the top individual finish for the Broncos. He tied for 16th in the 50 free at 21.64. Lee and two more seniors, Dan Comyn and Alex Anderson, had legs on the Broncos’ 400 free relay, which finished 26th.

“We had about half our guys equal or improve on their sectional times,” said Barrington coach John Valentine. “I look at it as a very positive day and I’m especially proud of our seniors.”

Conant’s Palmer Lynch produced a lifetime best in the 50 free (21.65) and finished 18th. Cougars sophomore Jonathon Burke finished 14th in the 500 free in a time that was as fast as his winning sectional effort, 4:40.52.

“I’m not sure he’s used to being right next to guys who take their race out so fast,” said Conant coach Brian Drenth of Burke’s effort in the 500. “That’s also part of the learning curve, especially with the way this meet goes.”

Elk Grove’s Carl Sugihara completed his high school career by equalling his lifetime best in the 100 free, placing 26th at 48.17.

Fremd senior Dustin Anderson delivered a lifetime best in the 50 free, finishing tied for 30th at 21.89, and Vikings sophomore Dennis Kostidis ended up 23rd in the 500 free (4:47.33).

Four state records were broken, starting with Naperville Central in the medley relay (1:31.68).

Hinsdale Central junior Danny Thomson had the swim of the day, lopping more than three seconds off the existing 500 freestyle record with a 4:21.43.

Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Cordes broke the state record in the 100 breaststroke but had very little time to enjoy it. His 54.00 took nearly a second off the existing mark, but in the next heat, Matt Elliott of Peoria Richwoods reclaimed the record with a 53.87.

Earlier, in the 200 IM, Elliott had the top time of 1:48.26, just a tenth of the second off the record set in 2001 by Dan Trupin.

Other top qualifiers included Thomson in the 200 free (1:38.84), Loyola sophomore Andrew Jovanovic in the 50 free (20.68) and 100 fly (49.60), New Trier junior Max Grodecki in the 100 free (45.44) and Naperville Central senior Jeff Depew in the 100 back (50.04).

New Trier had the top efforts the 200 free relay (1:23.97) and the 400 free relay (3:04.31) and is well positioned to win the team championship.