St. Charles North's Joe Myhre state 100 free champ
There was no chance Joe Myhre was going to contain his emotions at the conclusion of his 100-yard freestyle race - and no one thought anything was strange at all as the senior slapped the water by the starting blocks, smiled broadly and then hit the water again.
Myhre swam that race in 44.92, blazing to victory by over a half-second ahead of Peoria Notre Dame's Sam Neaveill and claimed the second individual state title in school history. And if that's not worth a little post-race celebration, nothing is.
"I was really surprised too," Myhre said. "I didn't think I was going to go that time. Being state champ was a goal of mine for all four years. To actually do it, it's pretty cool and it means a lot."
Chris Peterson, a 2007 St. Charles North grad, won three state titles for the North Stars, and the school has a 200 medley relay title from 2008 as well. Myhre, a senior, joins that elite group on a day of immense success for the North Stars overall as they finished sixth.
"We came out of sectionals and not having one relay (400 freestyle relay) held us back," Myhre said. "We came in here pretty mad and we came here to build our image."
And the school came very close to doubling its number of state titles this season when Myhre's freshman brother Will finished second in the 100 breaststroke. Leading at the midpoint of the race, New Trier's Charlie Scheinfeld surged and finished in 55.90, .05 ahead of Will Myhre.
"It is still tough to swallow, but I like a good race if anything," Will Myhre said. "It was tight. I wasn't happy with the outcome. But I've worked all season and the team has worked all season. Swimming with my brother was such an experience, and this finish is a payoff for that work."
Added to those individual swims was a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay and fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, where the six teams in the championship final touched within one second of each other.
"Joe (Myhre) being a high school state champion is an enormous thing," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "We had a great meet and I'm proud of all of the boys. I'm really proud of Will Myhre and what he did as a freshman. It's all good."
Taking the 400 freestyle relay out of the equation, the North Stars had a very good sectional meet, and followed that with a strong performance during Friday's prelims, and then the team's swimmers mostly swam faster in Saturday's finals.
"The seniors, including Nathan Bawolek and Stephen Hutchinson, did great today," Rooney said. "It's been an awesome week for us. I think (the sectional) was a huge learning point and teaching point for the entire program. We learned perseverance. Not everything happens easily. But we're a top 10 team, and that's awesome."
St. Charles East finished 17th and re-established itself as one of the area's strong programs. Leading the way for the Saints was Mitch Milosch, who was fifth in the 100 butterfly and 10th in the 100 backstroke.
"All the work, paid off," Milosch said. "We've all worked hard, and it showed in this meet."
The Saints scored both freestyle relays as well. The 200 freestyle relay was 11th while the 400 freestyle relay placed ninth.
"We need to keep moving up, but we're young still and the future looks bright," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "Kyle Dunlap had a good meet today. We're getting more seasoned every year and we're getting a little better every year."
With their 400 freestyle relay in finals, the Saints were involved in the final event of the meet, which involved a race involving the main competitors for the state title, and the noise reached incredible levels during that race.
"It's a long meet and Saturday is a long day and you've got to just get used to doing it if your goal is to swim in finals," Cabel said. "You learn it as you go. We've got the building blocks, no doubt about it. This season was built off last season's training. Next year will depend on what the next 364 days are like, but we have the potential and the talent to get it done."
Marmion sophomore Will Kamps continues his progression in high school swimming. As a freshman, he qualified for finals and was 12th in the 500 freestyle. This year, he qualified for the championship final and finished fifth.
"This year was a lot faster," Kamps said. "I was pretty good this year in prelims and a little slower in finals. Next year, I want to work on that, being faster in finals."
Having been to the state meet and having earned a spot in finals as freshman - which is rare - helped Kamps as he went through the experience this year.
"I knew what I was going to do and had a game plan in my head," Kamps said. "I wasn't as nervous coming and I was able to calm myself in the environment I was in."
Kamps said he already has some goals as he looks toward his junior high school season.
"Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to the second day in the 200 IM and score in that too. Definitely, I'd like to be in the top three in the 500," Kamps said.
While Kamps was Marmion's only swimmer in the finals, the future is bright for a Cadets program that gained much experience this weekend.
"We had four individual swims, and they were all freshmen and sophomores," Marmion coach Bill Schalz said. "Seven of our eight relay swimmers were freshmen or sophomores. With no disrespect to our seniors, we came into this meet as an experience opportunity."
Looking ahead, Schalz said swimmers including freshman Nolan Fergus and sophomores Gary Rockwood and Sam Wehrli, among others, will form a core.
"When you're a freshman or a sophomore, you're just coming out of age group swimming, where you can make some mistakes and have some strategies that just don't work at this level. You can't give these guys a lead and come back on them. That was a big thing for our younger guys to learn this weekend," Schalz said.
Cary-Grove senior Cooper Langanis swam a 1:42.95 in the 200 free to finish in eighth place.
West Chicago-Batavia scored when sophomore Garrett Clasen finished eighth in the 200 IM. McHenry's Kevin Braun was fourth in the 50 freestyle and also finished fourth in the 100 freestyle.