Naperville Central boys swimming takes on rival Naperville North in a crosstown matchup where the Redhawks take the team win. This highlight is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
Leaping back into the boys swimming season with a crosstown rivalry between Naperville North and Naperville Central. Huskies head coach Andy McWhirter hoping to guide his team to victory on the road.
200-Yard Freestyle
Early in the meet the 200-yard freestyle showcases a hotly contested race. Tyson Berg from Naperville North and Quinten Sanders from Naperville Central in lanes four and five lead the way in the early going. Nathan Lueken from Central and Ryan Liberio from North trailing close behind.
It’s neck and neck between Berg and Sanders approaching the final 25 yards. Sanders gains the slight edge after the turn, but Berg in lane four is right with him. At the wall, Sanders takes first place by two tenths of a second with a time of 1:54.56. What a finish.
200-Yard Individual Medley
Now to the 200-yard individual medley. Five swimmers competing including Henry Laperna and Hayden Albright. Jonathan Wang from North in lane four, Caleb Yau from Central in lane five and Patrick Stern from Central in lane seven. The butterfly gets the race started, followed by the backstroke, the breaststroke and ending with the freestyle. Huskie Jonathan Wang pulls away to win the event over Caleb Yau by nearly six seconds.
100-Yard Butterfly
Now to the 100-yard butterfly. Redhawk Sam Lendzion in front in lane five ahead of teammate Henry Wagner in lane three and North’s Alvin Ng in lane four. Lendzion pulls away down the stretch and takes the win. Wagner holds off Ng to finish second for the red and white.
50-Yard Freestyle
Now for the fastest race, the 50-yard free. Everyone with a chance off the blocks in the first 25 yards. Lanes two through five pull ahead of the pack and at the wall, Central’s Max Goettsch gets the win, just ahead of North teammates Alvin Ng and Griffin Schultz, who actually tie for second with identical times of 23.71.
Diving
Let’s take a break over in the diving area. Naperville North’s Gavin Rump with a reverse one somersault tuck and it’s very solid to put the Huskie in third place.
Finishing in second, just a quarter of a point ahead of Rump is Chade Coudreaut from Naperville Central. He impresses with his reverse dive tuck.
The top diver for the meet is Redhawk Brady Bechtel. His reverse one somersault tuck is the dive of the night.
100-Yard Freestyle
Back to the big pool as swimming resumes with the 100-yard freestyle. Only one Huskie in the race with Jack Reif in lane four. Central swimmer Steven Mander pulls ahead from lane three. He gets to the wall first. Nathan Lueken in second, Max Goettsch in third and Reif in fourth.
100-Yard Breaststroke
After Central’s Caleb Yau wins the 100 back, we move to the 100-yard breaststroke. Alex Lakin takes the lead off the blocks in lane five in front of Mason Hofmann from North in lane four and Rovert Hargrove from Central in lane three. Lakin pulls away and wins with a time of 1:04.47. He also won the 100 IM earlier in the night.
400-Yard Free Relay
We wrap up with the final race, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Redhawks winners of the 200-free relay and the 200-medley relay earlier in the night.
Jonathan Wang from North starting off for the Huskies in lane four with Quinten Sanders for Central in lane five. Sanders also won the 500-yard freestyle. Wang gives the blue and orange an early lead that he turns over to Tyson Berg for the second leg with Steven Mander taking over for Central. North’s Griffin Schultz continues to hold off Max Goettsch later in the race before turning it over to anchor Jack Reif. Nathan Lueken hopes to gain ground for Central in the final 100 yards. But Reif closes things out to end the night on a high note for Naperville North. But Naperville Central takes the team win with an impressive showing.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
