Naperville Central takes home a trophy
Sometimes it's hard to say something summarizes a larger achievement. Watching Naperville Central's 400-yard freestyle relay Saturday really did encapsulate the Redhawks' state finals experience.
Naperville Central entered the state meet prelims Friday seemingly poised in a four-way battle for state trophies with Lyons Township, defending champion Hinsdale Central and pre-meet favorite Peoria Notre Dame.
But those predictions meant nothing. The Redhawks improved tremendously to put themselves firmly in trophy contention. Then on Saturday they continued that upward trajectory, saw off fading Peoria Notre Dame and finished 96-93 ahead of Hinsdale Central to finish second behind Lyons, which soared to its first state title.
"It's a testament to our kids," Naperville Central coach Mike Adams said. "We had a nice day (Friday) and we got a lot into finals. But we weren't quite as sharp as I thought we could be. And today, we just kept moving and moving and caught fire."
At the core of Naperville Central's improvement was its 400 freestyle relay, a team that finished sixth in the Metea Valley sectional and was seeded 26th entering the state meet. Scott Piper. Michael Stern, Phillip Sajaev and Eric Gerlach dropped nearly five seconds from their sectional time in prelims and were fifth fastest entering the finals. That same quartet dropped another two seconds Saturday and finished second behind Lyons to clinch the runner-up trophy.
"When we put together that relay, some people wondered why I would put that group together, and I did it because I felt they could be fast," Adams said.
As the relay competed, the non-swimming members of the relay bounced up and down behind the starting block to cheer on their teammates and the school's fans went nuts in the stands. In every way, those three minutes summarized the entire Redhawks' weekend.
"It's been an emotional roller coaster," Piper said. "We had some up swims and some down swims. To be able to come to the final relay and forget all that had happened and leave it all in the pool, was incredible."
The finish is Naperville Central's best since it placed second in 2011, and relays held a key. The 200 medley relay was third and the 200 freestyle relay was second. Individually, the top performances were registered by Piper, who finished fourth in the 200 IM and third in the 100 backstroke.
"It's really emotional," Piper said. "We always start our season with a dual meet at Evanston, so our high school careers started here, and now we're here and this is our last high school race. It's all come full circle, and it's really exciting that our last came down to us trying to be the second-best team in the state."
But if there was a moment when the team seemed to really surge, it was in the 500 freestyle, when 12th-seeded Jimmy Fox improved and finished ninth. Ryan Lehane similarly went from 12th to ninth in the 100 backstroke and Sajaev was fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
"(Fox) was disappointed yesterday," Adams said. "He came out and improved and helped the team. We weren't bad yesterday, but we just weren't crisp."
A year after winning its first state title since 1989, Hinsdale Central's third-place finish showed the program's strength, and relays again held the key. The Red Devils won the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay and were third in the 400 freestyle relay.
"We had to show up both days," Hinsdale Central coach Bob Barber said. "We had some things yesterday that we hoped would get through that missed by a little bit. But the things that got through were at the top of their heats."
Francisco Reyes won the 100 butterfly, Craig Smith was fourth in the 100 backstroke, and Billy Leader was 11th in the 100 breaststroke for Hinsdale Central.
"We came focused, and that's been the definition of this team," Barber said. "Last year, we were scared and this year, we were confident. I think it showed, especially in the relays."
Neuqua Valley combined two solid days of swimming to finish seventh. The Wildcats scored all three relays: the 200 medley relay was 10th, the 200 freestyle relay was fifth and the 400 freestyle relay was sixth. Individually, the team's top finisher was Joey Dalesandro, who was fifth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle.
"I think all year long, people were saying were 10th or 12th or 16th," Neuqua Valley coach Chad Allen said. "We cracked the top 10, and I don't think anyone thought we'd do that at the start of the year except us."
Matt Ciezczak was 11th in the 50 freestyle for the Wildcats while Mike Peters was 12th in the 100 breaststroke.
"Dalesandro, Ciezczak and Peters, our three seniors, carried us this year, and we're going to miss them," Allen said. "But we've got some good underclassmen, so we're excited about next year. It was an awesome season. We didn't finish lower than second in an invitational all year and they had a lot of fun."
Waubonsie Valley finished a strong 12th and Michael Schwers gave the Warriors their top placing when he was fourth in the 100 butterfly.
"It wasn't as good as last year's, but I had some struggles this year, so all in all, I'm pretty happy," Schwers said.
Waubonsie Valley's 200 medley relay was seventh, Taggart Lohman was 10th in the 100 butterfly, the 200 freestyle relay was 10th and the school's 400 freestyle relay was 11th.
"I think we're all pretty pleased," Schwers said. "I think we all wish we could have done a little better. But it is what it is, and it's experience for us. We switched in (sophomore) Jared Simpson to the 400 free relay, and that was pretty big for him and he'll have experience for next year."
Metea Valley closed its boys season with a 15th-place finish, and Alex Dillmann led the Mustangs when he finished third in the 100 butterfly, 0.50 ahead of Schwers.
"We weren't going for a title as a team, so we were all trying to get our personal bests, and I was able to get that today," Dillmann said. "I was definitely satisfied with that. It definitely felt better than last night. It always seems to happen that I drop time at finals, and I was happy with that."
Metea Valley's Bebe Wang placed ninth in the 200 IM and the school's 400 freestyle relay was seventh. While Dillmann and Wang swam that relay and graduate along with leadoff swimmer Kevin Kluge, John Tjards is a junior and will return.
Wheaton Academy had its first medalist since 1984 in sophomore Tyler Sesvold, who was runner-up in the 100 backstroke. West Chicago-Batavia sophomore Garrett Clasen earned is second state medal in as many years when he was eighth in the 200 IM. Naperville North sophomore Horace Qiao scored his team's state finals points when he was 11th in the 200 IM.