Scouting sectional swimming, Northwest

Scouting sectional swimming

Saturday: Diving begins at 9 a.m., swimming at 1 p.m.

At stake: Qualification to next week's state championship meet at Evanston Township High School. Sectional diving champions advance automatically, and the next-best 32 scores from the 16 sectionals also makethe state meet with at-large berths. In swimming events, sectional champions plus any entrant which equals the qualifying time earn a state spot.

at Glenbrook SouthThe field here features all of the Mid-Suburban East (except Buffalo Grove), plus Conant and St. Viator. They'll be pooled up with a terrific Glenbrook South team along with quality Central Suburban League squads Deerfield and Glenbrook South.

Glenbrook South's lineup features junior Sam Iida, already a state champ last year in the 500-yard freestyle (and runner-up in the 200 IM). He'll race those same events this year.

Wheeling is well positioned for sending both relays and individuals to state and will hold up very well in the team standings Saturday. Both the medley and 400 free relays have good chances to advance for a second straight year with seniors Jake Noel, Nate Reiff, Kyle Noel and Justin Loquercio. Reiff is the top seed in two individual races - the 100 breast and 100 fly. Jake Noel (IM, backstroke) is already a two-time state qualifier, and Kyle Noel is after first chances as an individual in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

St. Viator's Michael Balcerak is the top seed in both the 200 freestyle (1:41.09) and 100 freestyle (46.83). His continued development makes the Lions' freestyle relays well worth watching as Balcerak aims for peak performance at next week's state meet after scored individually in two races as a freshman last year. Senior Ben Peinsipp has emerged in the sprint freestyles as well for the Lions.

MSL East champ Prospect will have plenty of final-heat competitors, including Jack Gabriel (200 free), Alex Morikado (200 IM), Matt Inserra (50 free), Alex Jarosz (500 free), Ryan Lakner (100 back) and Jacob Kosinski (100 breast). The MSL's third-place diver, junior Anthony Liva, aims for a repeat trip to state.

Rolling Meadows' leading state candidate is sophomore Josh Dellorto, the No. 2 seed in the 200 free and the No. 3 seed in the 100 back. Both of the Mustangs' free relays will also race in the final heat, as will junior Filip Pancerz (100 fly, 100 back) and sophomore Jake Pors (200 free).

Conant, the lone MSL West team here, has the No. 2 seed in the 100 fly in freshman Justin Lim, and senior Tim Song in the final heat of the 100 breast. MSL diving champ Cole Aykroid will be aiming for a second straight state trip.

Michael Banasik is Elk Grove's top seed, at No. 7 in the 50 free.

at StevensonIt figures to be a rich blend here, as three conference champions - Fremd, Stevenson and Cary-Grove - compete. Add in a terrific MSL runner-up team, Barrington, and a McHenry squad with a pair of elite-level racers, and it's clear there's going to be plenty of fast swimming and tight races.

Fremd's Nick Seroni was a key to the Vikes' victory last weekend in the MSL meet and is a dual threat to advance individually to state. The emergence of top-end freestyle sprinters Nick Nevins and Kenny Benjamin makes Fremd's relays tough to beat, and the lineup is loaded with individuals on the cusp of beating a state qualifying standard, among them Alex Schillinger, Yoochan Lee, Tony Lee, and Arnas Maciunas. The Vikes also have standout divers in senior Chase Jauch and sophomore Zach Mega.

Barrington has a core of state-proven athletes back in action - junior Colin O'Leary, senior Colin Cross and junior Mitch Gavars. Add to that 100-200 freestyler John Lagoni, 500 ace Jeremy Kleinjan and IM-breaststroker Max Gersten, along with three strong relays, and the Broncos figure to have plenty of state-bound swimmers.

Palatine brings seniors Oleksiy Korniychuk, Jordan Kalina, Marcus Carter-Buckman, junior Alex Bartosik and sophomore Jake Klein, all with chances to advance both individually and on relays. The Pirates figure to be especially strong in the 400 freestyle relay.

Stevenson, the North Suburban Conference champ, has a pair of swimmers already under the state cut in Daniel Ng and Nick Baginski. With abundant freestyle ability thanks to competitors such as Alex Kapecki, Topher Stensby and Karl Wadowski, the free relays will be rock-solid. The Patriots' amazing third- and even fourth-swimmer depth won't come into play in the sectional format, but this is one young team that bears close watching in the coming years.

Cary-Grove has a handful of true standouts in senior Cooper Langanis (distance free), junior Ethan Hare (IM, breaststroke) and sophomore Nick Jasinski (back, fly). The Fox Valley invite champs have enough freestyle depth and stroke options to be strong in all three relays.

McHenry brings senior standouts Kevin Braun and Trey Schopen to the mix. Both are returning state qualifiers and among the state's top performers in their races. Braun placed in the consolation heat of both the 50 and 100 freestyles at last year's state meet, while Schopen was a near-miss to score points at state in both the 200 free and 100 fly.

Jacobs' top performer recently has been Harold Ogaban (IM, breaststroke). Buffalo Grove's top entrants figures to be diver Jack Delattre (the MSL runner-up), plus sprinter Mark Poirier. Schaumburg has Evan Wahlen in the distance freestyles, Sam Thomas in the IM and breastroke and Tyler Gustafson in the sprints, while Hoffman Estates' leaders are Andy Hobar and Mark Heitkotter.

- Aaron Gabriel