Stacklin steps up
Adam Stacklin of Waubonsie Valley took his place among the big dogs at Saturday’s Fox Valley Invitational at Metea Valley.
Naperville Central won the team championship by almost 100 points, and Stacklin, a sophomore, earned attention with wins in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly as he touched ahead of major players in both races.
In the 50 free Stacklin swam a 22.16, while Neuqua Valley’s Kevin Cordes finished second, Stacklin’s teammate Mike McWhirter was third and the Naperville Central duo of Pat May and Tony Zhang were fourth and fifth.
Stacklin’s 52.73 in the butterfly bested Naperville Central’s Nate Weeks’ 52.96.
“I never went a 52 before and I never finished ahead of Nate before, though I’ve swam against him a lot,” Stacklin said.
“Adam gets excited for these big meets, and he turns it up a notch when he needs to,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Luke Payette. “His back half in the fly was extremely strong.”
Stacklin said the success he’s been having in recent weeks in both events is making him adjust his goals for the end of the season.
“When everything is going well for you like this, it builds your confidence,” Stacklin said. “I’ve been working hard at practice every day, and it’s really paying off. I’m hoping to score at state.”
Stacklin also swam the butterfly in the 200 medley relay, which finished second to Naperville Central. McWhirter, Alex Ding and Tyler Hunt joined him on the medley relay team.
The Naperville Central foursome that won the race in 1:38.36 included Jeff Depew, Steven van Deventer, Weeks and Zhang.
The Redhawks, with Depew, David Xie, Sean Lehane and Pate May, also won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:16.87 and Waubonsie Valley with McWhirter, Steven Tan, Hunt and Stacklin was second in 3:18.07.
Neuqua Valley won the 200 freestyle relay and the Wildcats’ Conner Jager also had an outstanding day with victories in both the 200 and the 500 freestyle.
Neuqua’s Cordes swam a 56.80 to win the 100 breaststroke, and Ted Wagner won the diving competition with 435.40 points.
Other Naperville Central winners were Depew in the 200 IM, May in the 100 free and Lehane in the 100 backstroke.
In the team standings Naperville Central scored 752 points and Neuqua Valley finished second with 657.5. Naperville North was third with 654, followed by Waubonsie Valley with 545 and Metea Valley with 389.
“Every meet gives another opportunity to prove ourselves,” May said. “We lost a lot of seniors, and we’re all working hard to show that we can get back to where the team was last year. We’re practicing hard and we’ll see where it takes us at the end of the year.”
“The regular season is over and the playoffs begin next week,” said Naperville Central coach Mike Adams. “We were solid today. Not great in any one area. Everyone raced and that was good. We still have a few things to work on.”