Youth is served as Fremd, Palatine get their feet wet

For the boys swimming programs at both Fremd and Palatine, it’s going to be a very different kind of season.

The Vikings graduated a wealth of talent last year and are searching for answers from a much younger team. Palatine didn’t suffer the same level of state-meet-qualifying losses, but the Pirates are in pretty much the same young-but-learning mode.

Fremd was one winner Friday at Palatine, as junior Dennis Kostidis helped lead a 111-75 victory in a Mid-Suburban West dual.

The other winner? Optimism, which will play a big role for both teams this winter.

“My team lost some really powerful swimmers from last year, like Dustin Anderson and Jeff Freund,” said Kostidis, who won the 50-meter free (26.37) and the 400 free (4:47.69) and also had legs on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. “But we have a lot of people that have the right attitude about things this year, with great energy. Our goal is to be even better than last year, try to get more swimmers to the state meet.”

Fremd’s other individual winners were junior Andrew King in the 200 free and 100 back, sophomore Nick Pappas in the 200 IM and sophomore Michael Chemello in the 100 free.

“We’re really trying to tap what might have been unused resources in the past,” said Fremd coach Kristen Newby. “We’re loaded with kids that want to help and are starting to accept the challenge. We’re not shy about the fact that it’s going to take a lot of work.”

Palatine’s first-place swimmers were sophomore Mitchell Brustad in the 100 fly and sophomore Omar El Hoffi in the 100 breaststroke.

Evidence of the overall youth movement at the meet: the only event won by a senior was diving, where Palatine’s Carter Sanecki (170.20) edged Fremd senior Aidan Kurkcu (161.85).

Palatine coach Kyle Sorensen sees this as a season for continued development for the Pirates’ top-tier swimmers, as well as a learning season for a large group of first-time swimmers. A 22-member frosh-soph Palatine team bodes well for the future.

“We’ve got a couple of great leaders in (juniors and team captains) Christian Kalfas and Rob Hank — they really set the tone with their work habits and the way they approach things,” said Sorensen.

Kalfas was second in both the 50 and 100 freestyles; Hank placed second in the 100 back after a tight race with Fremd’s King.

“Already, from last week to this week, we’ve see a bunch of improvements and best times,” Sorensen said. “I expect it to be like that for a lot of the season for us. We had good races today, with a mixture of some people refining things, and some others really still learning the basics of the sport. But overall we’ve got a team full of open-minded swimmers who are trying to improve and make a difference.”

Fremd swept the relays. Ian Assmann, James Tokuda, Takuzo Kimura and Kostidis won the medley; Assmann, Lucas Stark, Kimura and Chemello won the 200 free relay and Chemello, Kostidis, Pappas and King were tops in the 400 free relay.

Buffalo Grove d. Hersey: The host Bison passed a key early season test in the Mid-Suburban East by topping visitor Hersey 104-82.

Matt Schulstad won the 200 IM (2:04.59) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.59) and Ian Rodriguez won the 100 free (48.91) and 100 back (54.25) for Buffalo Grove.

Jon Mass won the 50 free (22.80), placed third in the 100 free and anchored the Bison’s winning medley relay.

Hersey’s top individual efforts came from Alex Roznai, who won the 100 fly (55.11) and 200 free (1:55.86) and anchored the Huskies’ victorious 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

Barrington d. Schaumburg: The Broncos showed their depth in a 137-48 victory over the host Saxons. Jack Strauss won the 50-meter free (25.43) and 100 free (56.13); other Barrington winners were James Rodney (200 IM), Kyle Ujiye (100 fly), Patrick Leighton (400 free), Nicholas Cogswell (100 back), Connor Kobida (100 breaststroke) and Nolan Presmyk (diving).

Schaumburg’s top results came from Danny Hartzman, who won the 200 free and place second in the 100 free.

Wheeling d. Elk Grove: Bryce Maczko won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles and had legs on the winning freestyle relays as the host Wildcats edged the Grenadiers 102-82. Elk Grove had a double individual winner in Marek Burtan, tops in the 50 free and 100 free.

Conant d. Hoffman Estates: Alex Shozda delivered an impressive win in the 100-meter freestyle (54.83) and also won the 200 IM as the visiting Cougars rolled to a 129-57 victory. Other Conant winners included Jonathon Burke (200 free, 1:58.94), Alan Wojciechowski (50 free, 25.19), Edvin Alijagic (100 fly, 1:11.84), Adrian Lisowski (400 free, 4:47.36), Martin Pozniak (100 back, 1:00.51) and John Maevski (diving, 206.95).

Hoffman Estates had a winner in Sang W. Han in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.92).