It’s time for a senior night showdown as Naperville North goes on the road to take on Naperville Central. It’s the last DVC regular season meet for the Redhawks as they look to send their seniors off with a victory before sectionals. The Huskies look to avoid back-to-back DVC losses after their recent fall against Neuqua Valley. Both teams have a chance to continue to build momentum with the DVC championships around the corner. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
James, Chen, and Mattson duel in the 200-Yard Freestyle
Beginning with the first individual event, the 200-yard freestyle. Redhawk Grant James soars ahead of the pack as the Huskie Kevin Chen and Redhawk Ben Mattson seek to erase his teammate’s early lead. Grant James goes on to extend his lead as he cruises to the wall for a first-place finish. In a tight finish for second place, it’s Huskie Kevin Chen, while Mattson finishes in third for the Redhawks.
Moving on to the 50-yard freestyle, the closest race of the day. It’s down to the wire, Joshua Leu of the Huskies gets the photo finish victory over Central’s George Zenow. Central’s Keanu Yoshikawa and Vincent Antonietti secure third and fourth for the Redhawks.
Heading over to the diving boards as North’s Luca Pantel attempting a back one and one half somersault tuck. Pantel’s fantastic dive here helps the Huskie go on to secure the top score for the Huskies with 187.50 points.
Central’s Emerson Wood attempting an Inward dive pike. With that stellar dive the Redhawk goes on to secure second place with 239.55 points.
Naperville Central boys swimming ties with Naperville North
Redhawk Noah Pickett attempting an inward one and one half somersault pike. It’s a stiff diving competition but, Pickett goes on to finish in first place with a score of 242.10 points.
The swimmers dive back into the action with the 100-yard butterfly. Another race that goes down to the wire between Husky teammates Carter Seiple and Allen Xu. Seiple reaches the wall first in 55.74 seconds with Xu finishing in second at 56.12 seconds. Central’s Grant Baboyian finishes in third in a close finish over teammate Austin Artis.
The Huskies continue to build momentum in the 100-yard freestyle as Husky Max Fedorovskiy gets off to a strong start with Central’s Yoshikawa and Mattson applying the pressure. Fedorovskiy goes on to extend his lead and tops off his great start with a first-place finish. Redhawk Yoshikawa claims second place in 51.31 seconds as Mattson finishes in third with a time of 51.53 seconds.
Jumping ahead to the final individual race of the night, the 100-yard breaststroke. Early on, North’s Ben Hanson has the slight advantage over Central’s Garrett Reynertson. Down the stretch, Hanson and Reynertson are neck-and-neck in another thrilling race. Central’s Garrett Reynertson just barely reaches the wall first in 1:04.30 seconds as Hanson finishes in 1:04.40 seconds.
In an exciting matchup from start to finish, it ends in a tie! Thanks to excellent performances from both teams, Naperville Central and Naperville North both finish with 93 points.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
