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Boys swimming: Fremd, Barrington together again at Stevenson

The boys swimming and diving sectional meet at Stevenson on Saturday featured the Mid-Suburban League's top two teams, Fremd and Barrington.

The host Patriots turned out to be in a class of their own, but in an admirable display of MSL symmetry, the Vikings and Broncos could not be separated.

Stevenson rolled to the team championship with 326 points, with Fremd and Barrington tying at 173, ahead of Jacobs (142), Cary-Grove (132.5) and Palatine (84).

In the harder-to-measure metric of which team, Fremd or Barrington, performed at a higher level, well, it was a close call again - in a good way.

Both teams advanced their 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle relays to next weekend's state meet at Evanston.

They were dead-even in individual swimming qualifiers, too.

Barrington's Jack Hoppe made it in both the 200 free (1:44.35) and the 100 breaststroke (59.66), and Steven Fischer, sparing no drama, advanced in the 50 free by performing in exactly the time required (21.86).

For Fremd, senior Alex Schillinger repeated as a state qualifer in both the 100 breast and the 200 IM, and freshman Evan Stegall made it in the 100 back (52.59).

Slightly in favor of MSL champ Fremd: There were two Vikings event winners.

Schillinger won the breaststroke in a season-best 58.42, and senior Zach Mega was dominant in winning the diving automatic qualification spot (444.35).

Both Steven Latimer of Barrington (399.45) and Christian Zukowski of Fremd (397.05) also stand a good chance to advance with at-large diving berths - likewise for Conant's Caleb Savoy (second, 407.45) and Kyle Jones (third, 400.95).

The medley of Stegall, Schillinger, Yoochan Lee and Danny Konishi got things started nicely for Fremd, finishing third in 1:36.37.

Soon after, Schillinger placed second in the 200 IM in 1:55.22 - almost seven seconds faster than a week ago in the conference meet.

"That was the kind of swim that made a difference to our entire team," said Fremd coach Kristen Newby. "We needed to have something big at that point, and he came up with it."

The Vikings' 200 free relay of Lee, Alex Reed, Stegall and Konishi placed fourth in 1:27.43, and Stegall was later second in the 100 back.

"In some ways, it feels like it's been an uphill battle for us this year," said Schillinger. "But I was talking about this with (Newby) - we've worked hard for everything this season, and that's something our whole team can be proud of."

Barrington's highlights extended beyond the medley relay of Fischer, Hoppe, Shawn Ujiiye and Sam Burrell (1:36.05). Those same four comprised the state-qualifying 200 free relay (1:27.31).

Broncos coach John Valentine specified the big time drops from freshman Daniel Langlois - he finished fourth in the 200 IM (2:01.35) and fifth in the 500 free (4:48.46) - as evidence that the best may be yet to come from an impressive, young core group at Barrington.

Among the other memorable moments supplied by swimmers from the MSL:

• Schaumburg senior Matt Soltau didn't make the state meet last season, and all year he seemed to be intent on changing that this time around.

Mission accomplished - twice.

Soltau finished second in the 50 free (21.56) and third in the 100 free (47.21), both comfortably under the state cut.

Also coming up with big swims was senior Tyler Reynolds, who was fifth in the 200 free (1:46.87) and eighth in the 100 fly (53.70).

• Palatine senior Sean O'Brien, in his final attempt to make an individual state meet cut, was racing in the 100 backstroke.

His seed time had him placed in the next-to-last heat, but that didn't seem to faze the Pirates' co-captain, who delivered a lifetime best of 52.85 - more than a half-second faster than the state cut.

A glance at the scoreboard prompted a wild celebration from his coaches and teammates.

"He's so easy to coach," said first-year Palatine coach Katie Mroz. "He works so hard, and he really listens. We're all thrilled for him."

Pirates senior Jake Klein also made the top six with a big drop in the 200 free (sixth, 1:47.72).

• Buffalo Grove junior Daniel Verdico has three individual events that are exceptional, but he had to pick two of them for his sectional lineup.

He opted in favor of the 500 free, which meant skipping the 100 breast - the kind of decision which can make for a long off-season if it doesn't go well.

But early in the meet, Verdico had rocked his 200 free (1:46.08), dropping almost five seconds from his seed time. So a solid 500 seemed likely.

Even so, Verdico exceeded expectations.

"Pretty happy with my choice," said Verdico, after making state from the next-to-last heat of the 500.

After touching in 4:43.89, Verdico looked for his coach and teammates, who were shrieking and hollering with joy nearby.

Instead of looking for his time on the scoreboard, though, Verdico just produced an extended series of shrugs.

"I thought his reaction was priceless," said Buffalo Grove coach Tom Cooney. "It was almost like he didn't want to believe it could have happened for him."

More happiness for BG: Verdico later joined Andy Gontko, Kevin Carr and Kenny Velu on a team record 400 free relay (3:18.70), which finished sixth.

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