Neuqua gets comfortable at Evanston
With just less than 50 days to go in the boys swimming season, the campaign is now more a sprint than marathon. Before teams know it, they'll be at Evanston for the Feb. 22-23 state meet, vying for the IHSA's trophies.
Neuqua Valley will go into that meet with the experience of hoisting a championship trophy at the Evanston pool in 2008. And the manner in which the Wildcats won the Evanston Invitational on Saturday will make them one of the favorites when the state meet takes place.
Neuqua Valley used meet records in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well as the 400 freestyle relay to edge New Trier and a stacked field in the 43rd annual Evanston Invitational.
"It's nice to get a win," Neuqua Valley coach Chad Allen said. "New Trier's been the team to beat every year. It was exciting to come into the place where the state meet will take place and come with a victory."
New Trier led entering the 200 freestyle relay. Then Neuqua Valley's Hans Peters, Mike Lehman, Kevin Overholt and Brian Alden swam 1:26.09, breaking the meet record by over 1.5 seconds. The Wildcats' time, coming off two weeks of intense training, was only three seconds slower than the winning time at last year's state meet.
"To win as a team against the great teams here is great," Overholt said. "We have a lot of depth at freestyle this year."
For good measure that same Wildcats quartet broke the record in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay. The key leg was turned in by Overholt, who swam a personal-best 46.71 in his 100-yard swim.
"The 400 free relay's always an important race and we definitely wanted to come in and win that one," Overholt said.
The Evanston meet uses the Power Points system of scoring. In this system faster times score more points, to a 200 maximum, regardless of where the team finishes in the race.
Naperville North finished seventh in the 17-team meet. The teams from third to ninth were tightly bunched.
""I don't think we came in and had any shocking time drops," Naperville North coach Kurt Johns said. "We had some time drops. But most of the times we had were consistent with our season bests. With the work that we've done, to be able to come in and do that -- I was pleased with that."
The Huskies' best event from a results standpoint was the 200 individual medley. Conor Handley won the event while Will Heidler finished second.
"We did really well holding it together coming out of winter break," Heidler said. "It was good to see people swim fast."
Heidler swam with Handley, Jackson Hill and Phil Lechowicz to a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.
"There are a lot of fast teams here," Heidler said. "It was good to get them together and see how we did against them."