Boys swimming and diving: Stevenson clear winner of own Patriot Relays
Mention the phrase "No Klunkers" on the back of their T-shirts and the Stevenson boys swimming and diving team will know what you're talking about.
"It simply means consistency in our swimming, especially the relays," said Patriots coach Doug Lillydahl. "We want all three relays to be prepared and be the fastest at every meet and invitational. There's a lot of mental preparation we work on."
The moniker played out on Saturday at the Patriot Relays, where all but a couple of events are 3-4 man teams.
And the Pats' Gold team dominated, swimming to its fourth straight title with 274 points in that division.
Lyons Township was second with 200, while Warren had 93 points and Fremd finished with 91 in the same division.
"It's a good gauge of what we have to work with," added Lillydahl. "It's also a fun meet because everyone gets to get into the water."
Some of the event winners for Stevenson included the 400 IM Gold relay team of Jack Zhang, Ari Zaritsky, Mike Wywrocki, and David Kohan touching in 3:54.81.
In the 100 freestyle Gold division, Zaritsky then paired with AJ Carollo, Jack Curtain, and Jake Kim to take first in 41.70.
Palatine also had a nice afternoon.
In the Green division, the 400 medley relay of Sam Adane, Henry Gabriel, Christian Snyder, and Alex Antoniv took first in 3:51.81.
"Being the first competition of the season, this is a fun meet and it's like training for us," said Pirates coach Katie Mroz. "It's also a chance for us to see different teams and try people in different events."
Snyder also won the 50 freestyle senior Green division in 21.32, while the Pirates' 350 butterfly relay also won the senior Green division with a swim of 3:13.03.
Both Snyder and Gabriel are state hopefuls in the breaststroke and butterfly, respectively.
Warren looks to get some people back to state after a one-year absence with three divers as state hopefuls come February.
At the Patriot relays, the trio of Spencer Burton, Wes Tunnelius, and Blake Vander-Jeugdt finished second after collecting 342.75 points.
"Our goal is to get back to the state meet and our divers have a great shot at doing that," said Blue Devils coach Chris Bertana. "As long as we move forward and get better with every meet."
Beside the divers, state hopefuls include senior sprinters Jack Foster and Riley Nebel, and junior Dante Rinaldi in the backstroke. Freshman Caleb Levy is also a butterflyer to watch.
Libertyville also looks to return to the state meet with senior divers Isaac Paul and Jake Hughes, and junior Lawrence Wang in the butterfly. Wang and Paul qualified for state last winter.
"We have a big varsity team this year with a lot of new faces, so there's plenty of room for growth and movement," said Wildcats coach Amanda Pechauer. "This is a fun event in that it's a chance for the guys to get back in the water. We can also see what combinations we might want to use for our relays."
The Libertyville divers finished second in the Varsity Green division with 316.30 points.