D-C grad Raske making at impact at Monmouth

That didn't take long.

Former Dundee-Crown swimming standout Kevin Raske has wasted zero time in making an impact at the collegiate level.

Raske has already shattered 4 Monmouth (Ill.) College men's swimming records. Monmouth swims as an NCAA Division III institution.

"I've put in a lot of hard training and put in about an hour extra of work a day," said Raske. "If practice is over at 7:15 a.m., I'll go to 8 a.m. I'll do extra dry-lands. I've pretty much worked my (buttocks) off toward it."

So far this season, Raske broke the 1,000 (10:01.65) and 500 (4:53.11) freestyle pool and school records -- that occurred in the first meet of his collegiate career against Millikin.

Raske won the 1,000 by 1:16 and also won the 500 by 37 seconds. Raske also helped the medley relay team to a first-place finish and an overall team victory.

In the team's second meet, Raske set the pool and school records in the 200 fly against Lake Forest College. He clocked in at 2:00.09. He also won the 1,000 and the 500 and was part of the first-place 200 medley relay team.

After that meet, Raske held the top times in the Midwest Conference in the 200 fly, 1,000 and 500.

He also recently set a school record in the mile swim (1,650) with a time of 16:58.

"I've always worked really hard," said Raske. "My coach at Jacobs (Rick Andresen) told me I was one of the hardest workers he had ever worked with."

Raske was a 3-time state qualifier with the D-C-Jacobs co-op team. As a senior he won sectional titles in the 200 and 500 and was also named the Fox Valley Conference co-MVP with teammate Nick Floyd. Raske swims with the Palatine Park District club team and used to swim with the Elgin Pelicans.

"The clubs I've swam for have instilled a strong work ethic in me," said Raske. "We swim anywhere from 7-10,000 yards per practice. It makes you want to keep that up."

Raske admits he's somewhat surprised by the start.

"I am a little surprised," said Raske. "I'm excited that it is happening. But it's kind of overwhelming to see what college swimming is like. I've had a ton of support here already."

Raske says the longer the distance of the race, the better.

"I love the distance," said Raske. "It takes a lot of discipline. It's not just swimming down and swimming back. There is a lot of strategy to it. You have to be willing to push yourself and endure a lot of pain and push through that pain and get to the end."

Raske doesn't mind the heavy workload either.

"Sometimes your shoulders are on fire," he laughed. "But it's worth it. There is definitely a payoff in the end after all of the work you put in. That's why you keep working hard. Hard work is what you need to do. That is when you start seeing the results."

Raske said the Lake Forest College meet provided a strong challenge for him.

"I was focusing on the 200 fly and coach gave me two distances and a relay," said Raske. "That was tough, but you go in there and put your head in there and you finish, no matter what. You make sure you push it to the end and push it to the last lap and work through it."

While he's a fan of the longer races, Raske said they are also the most challenging.

"Last winter at one of my club team meets all everybody was talking about is how they hate doing the mile," said Raske. "You are good at it, but you can't stop swimming it. You know when the pain is coming. You have to physically prepare yourself for the mile. There is a lot of stuff you go through in that race."

Raske is a music education major and is looking at a minor in conducting.

"I'm focusing on music ed. I'd like to teach high school band and coach high school swimming," he said.

Raske played the saxophone at D-C and is the student director of the jazz band at Monmouth. He is part of a jazz combo that is about to put out a CD. He's also part of the school wind ensemble.

Needless to say, Raske's days are quite full.

"College is a lot tougher than high school," said Raske. "The whole day revolves around eating, sleeping, school, swimming and the saxophone. I'm literally running from place to place. But I really like it."

Raske is looking forward to the rest of the season, but does not want to get too far ahead of himself.

"I have to keep my head in it and not let this give me a big head," said Raske. "My focus is on getting to nationals and being the first male swimmer and the first swimmer in the school's history to make it to nationals."

Mohamed to run in NCAA finals: Bartlett alum Mohamed Mohamed was one of 38 at-large qualifiers for this coming Monday's NCAA cross country championship in Terre Haute, Ind. Mohamed, is now a junior at Southern Illinois University, was one of 4 at-large qualifiers selected from the Midwest regional. Mohamed finished 14th at the regional, covering the 10K track in 30:28. Mohamed is the first SIU national finals qualifier since Joe Byrne in 2005. The race, which is scheduled to begin at noon Eastern time this coming Monday, will be broadcast live on CSTV.

Millikin swimming: Dundee-Crown grad Chris Sykes is now a freshman swimmer on the Millikin University men's team. Sykes recently took first in the 200 free (1:55.95) at the Monmouth invitational. Sykes helped Millikin to a second-place finish in the meet.

Holtz at Eastern: Larkin alum Kiley Holtz is now playing softball for Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. During the fall season, Holtz led the team with a .419 batting average and had an impressive .600 on-base percentage. Holtz saw action primarily at third base and catcher.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.