Maine South splashes past Niles West
Maine South and Niles West each had six first-place finishes Friday during their Central Suburban League South boys swimming meet, but it was the Hawks who came out victorious 106-80.
Maine South’s 200-yard medley relay team of senior Jared DeGrazia, senior Brandon Yagihashi, junior Jon Prinz and junior Adam Wojciechowski (1 minute,45.63 seconds) finished first ahead of Niles West’s junior Tim Binkley, junior Elliott Kerbel, sophomore Ryan Miller and senior Ben Rees (1:46.76). Maine South’s freshman Tom Larocca, senior Kevin Polston, senior Sean Ryan and sophomore Matt Sherbahn (1:53.64) took third.
Niles West junior Konner Scott (1:46.03) cruised to a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle. Maine South’s junior Andrew Salomon (1:49.09) placed second and sophomore Michael Zadlo (1:56.07) took third.
In the 200 individual medley, Niles West’s Ryan Miller (2:10.05) won in dominating fashion. Maine South’s Tom Graziano (2:20.22) and Larocca (2:20.43) finished second and third.
DeGrazia (22.75) won the 50 free, with Binkley (23.33) second and Kerbel (23.80) third.
Niles West’s junior Zach Rothstein (177.10), senior Dylan Lovering (164.05) and senior Ryan Zimmer (162.20) finished 1-2-3 in diving.
In the 100 butterfly, Kerbel (57.62) beat out Wojciechowski (58.87) for first place. Yagihashi (1:01.44) was third.
Scott (48.37) edged out Salomon (48.47) in the 100 free, an event both qualified for state a season ago. Graziano (53.86) finished third.
The Hawks’ Zadlo (5:11.24), Larocca (5:21.99) and sophomore Dan San Gabino (5:41.33) were the top three finishers in the 500 free.
Maine South’s 200 free relay team of Salomon, Graziano, Yagihashi, and Wojciechowski (1:31.61) finished first ahead of Niles West’s Rees, Scott, senior Stu Topp and sophomore Nick Giffen (1:36.50). Maine South’s Prinz, Zadlo, Polston and Ryan (1:38.56) took third.
In the 100 backstroke, DeGrazia (54.69) topped Binkley (59.15) and Maine South junior Mike Oulvey (1:05.61).
Miller (1:07.35) won the 100 breaststroke, followed by. Prinz (1:09.09) and Sherbahn (1:12).
Salomon, Wojiechowski, DeGrazia, and Graziano (3:22.81) won the 400 free relay. Scott, Miller, Topp, and Binkley (3:24.62) finished second ahead of Polston, Larocca, San Gabino, and Zadlo (3:42.59).
Photo:
Maine South senior Sean Ryan competes in the 400-yard freestyle relay this season. (Photo by Jon Durr/www.DurrPhotos.com)