Fine finish at state for Mundelein's Falconer

As a freshman and sophomore, Mundelein's Pat Falconer watched the final day of the boys swimming state meet from the pool deck.

This year, he swam in the consolation finals in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle.

His reaction?

"Nothing is like actually swimming (on Saturday)," he said. "People were outside begging for tickets. The atmosphere at state is better than any meet I've been to."

Falconer placed second in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle (1:41.32), good for eighth place overall. He finished 11th in the 100 freestyle (47.39).

"This day is the hardest because you put so much energy into Friday," he said.

On Friday, Falconer lowered his own school record in the 200 freestyle (1:40.47).

"We wanted him to finish in the top six, but this is the fastest meet in state history and he was able to medal," Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna said.

A total of seven state records were broken during the two-day meet. New Trier (165.5 points), the host school, won the team title, while Neuqua Valley (127 points) was second.

Falconer said his only mistake Saturday came in the 200-freestyle.

"I didn't push the third 50 as much as I wanted, but I have no complaints," he said. "I showed I can compete. I'm happy how I did."

Sethna said Falconer's disciplined practice routine paid off.

"He does his own intervals and pushes himself every day," Sethna said. "That's a credit to him."

Stiefel places 12th: Stevenson senior Matt Stiefel capped his high school diving career by medaling at the state meet.

Stiefel began Saturday in 10th place and finished up in 12th with a total of 353.60 points. New Trier senior Michael Ross came in first (464.80 points). Stiefel enjoyed watching Ross compete.

"I admire him," he said.

Stiefel said medaling at the state meet was his biggest achievement in diving. He nailed his final dive in each of the cut-off rounds Friday to advance to the final 12.

Stevenson coach Amy Inselberger liked the way Stiefel handled the pressure.

"He's very mellow and he expresses himself with his diving," she said. "He's a tough competitor."

Record recount: Saturday's record march was remarkable.

Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Overholt started the onslaught by winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:37.24, breaking the mark set by Lake Forest's Erik Maurer in 1989.

Next was Downers Grove North senior Burke Sims, who finished in 4:24.74 to break Brian Gunn's mark, also from 1989.

Two records that had been established in Friday's prelims were quickly updated - Overholt broke his own record in the 100 free by winning in 44.06, and Glenbrook South's 200 free relay improved upon the national record it had set Friday by winning in 1:22.15.

And finally, New Trier, to punctuate its state title, won the 400 free relay in 3:02.24, more than 11/2 seconds ahead of Lake Forest's time from 2003.

In Friday's session, New Trier's 200 medley and senior Mike Dominski in the 100 fly broke state records.