Boys swimming: Hinsdale Central rises to top of New Trier’s ‘mini state meet’
Hinsdale Central swimming coach Bob Barber chose to view the end of Saturday’s Trevian Relays from a bank of bleachers overlooking New Trier’s pool.
How fitting.
His two-time reigning state champion Red Devils would finish in the northernmost spot in the team standings at the highly competitive invite.
“It’s too crowded down there, though I like to be amid a lot of people at some meets,” Barber said of the deck swarming with swimmers and coaches from 16 schools.
“We call this meet the ‘mini state meet.’”
His rapid fleet produced major feats in Winnetka, winning 7 of the 14 events and setting a trio of meet records en route to 253 points. New Trier finished runner-up with 224 points, followed by Stevenson (178), Loyola Academy (176) and Lyons Township (165).
Points in individual events were awarded based on the combined times of each team’s two entrants. Hinsdale Central senior Henry Guo and junior Luke Vatev went 1-2 in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking respective times of 46.47 and 46.58. Vatev later turned the tables on his mate, edging Guo 50.43-51-flat to win the 100 backstroke.
Both aggregate times supplanted previous meet marks.
“There’s tension at our practices,” said HC senior and Indiana-bound Josh Bey, who led off the Red Devils’ victorious 200 medley relay (meet-record 1:26.63) and touched first in the 200 IM (1:52.83). “There are rivalries too — friendly rivalries.
“I’ve become a better practice swimmer.”
Stevenson senior Timothy Rhee emerged as the runner-up (1:46.21) to HC’s Noah Pelinkovic (1:45.19) in the 200 freestyle. But Rhee deserved to have an asterisk and a few exclamation points appear after his name on the final results.
The Patriot had raced in the event’s penultimate heat.
“Some love this situation,” Stevenson coach Doug Lillydahl said of swimmers racing against a slew of state-medal contenders. “Eight weeks down, six to go in the season. It’s a good time in the season to compete in a meet that’s definitely the best simulation of the state meet until the state meet.”
Lillydahl also received a second-place swim from senior Sirui Wang in the 100 breaststroke (57.63). Sirui then anchored the runner-up 400 free relay unit (3:12.09) after legs from Kyler Chou, Maxim Kolbunov and Josh Wang.
Barrington — the lone Mid-Suburban League school in the field — placed eighth (153 points), 6 points behind seventh-place Neuqua Valley. Broncos senior and Notre Dame recruit Luke Bucaro topped the 500 free field with a season-best 4:41.33. Teammate Luke Keller took third in 4:48.63.
“Great competition here,” said an appreciative Bucaro, who plans to major in Finance and minor in Swimming Fast in South Bend. “It’s an amazing meet, getting to see and swim against some of the state’s best.”
Only three teams won more than one event on Saturday. St. Charles North earned that distinction, joining HC and the hosts. SCN sophomore Thomas McMillan collaborated with classmates Josh Lack, Collin Beu and Landyn Kruse to capture gold in the frosh-soph 200 medley relay (1:38.77) and then sped to a first-place 50.7 in the 100 butterfly.
Maine South’s frosh-soph 400 relay of Max Fraley, David Mazurek, Michael Saviski and Nicholas Drcha took fifth in 3:28.28.
“A meet like this gives our young guys the chance to see what great swimming looks like,” Hawks coach Don Kura said. “I told them, ‘Watch and pay attention to their underwaters, their walls, little things that are important.’
“We swim often on Fridays (vs. Central Suburban League squads), so it’s good for us to compete right away again on Saturdays because the state meet has that same back-to-back.”
Neuqua Valley was paced by its runner-up quartet of Jackson Wagoner, Braden Meurer, Jack Langan and Luke Oitker in the frosh-soph 200 medley relay (1:39.18); Naperville North, which placed 12th (102 points), got a third-place effort from senior Mason Hofmann in the 100 breast (57.83); and the top Waubonsie Valley (13th, 67 points) entrant was sophomore Z Lam, who finished 12th in the 200 IM (2:03.17).
“We are young, quite young,” said WV coach Christopher Hagenbaumer, who noted Manny Perea is one of his promising freshmen. “I like the competition here, but we didn’t prepare for it; we came here to race. You can get inspired at a meet like this or you can get discouraged. I’m looking at the next couple of years with this group.”
Senior Nicholas Ozimek of Libertyville (15th, 58 points) placed 10th in the 100 breast (1:01.22).
Hinsdale Central’s Matthew Vatev, Guo and Frankie Adamo swam legs 2-3-4 on that winning 200 medley relay. Ten events later, Matthew Vatev triumphed in the 100 breast with a 56.83, more than 1 second faster than his seed time.
Adamo, Teddy Chase, Pelinkovic and Guo capped the meet emphatically for the Red Devils, pooling their speed to win the 400 free relay in 3:11.09.
“Our swimmers understand the team philosophy,” Barber said. “It’s a competitive group, with many battling for a spot on our sectional team. We have 85 kids; only 10-13 will swim for us at a sectional.
“We're shooting to do what few teams have done: win three state titles in a row.”