We’re at Naperville Central for the DVC Boys Swimming Championship. Waubonsie Valley looks to continue a successful season with a defense of their 2023 conference title. Yet Naperville North, Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Metea Valley, and DeKalb are all aiming for the crown. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley’s Alex Parkinson gets the day started with a win
The first event is the 200-yard freestyle. Alex Parkinson breaks apart for the Wildcats as he makes the turn first on the last lap with Redhawk Max Goettsch right behind him. Luke Martens is chasing Goettsch in the lane above him as Parkinson wins the event with a time of 1:43.60. Goettsch comes in second with a 1:46.38 time just ahead of Martens who finishes with a 1:46.82 for Waubonsie.
Keian Lam breaks another record during his senior season
Next, we head into the 200-yard IM, Waubonsie star Keian Lam’s first solo race of the day. At the midway point of the race though it’s his teammate Sam Lohman neck and neck with him as they head into the backstroke. Allen is in third place for Naperville North. It’s just the two Warriors ahead at the end, as Lam comes in first with Lohman in second. Lam’s effort set a meet record with a 1:53.22 on his first win of the night.
Another race and another broken record
The 100 Freestyle event features some tight competition at the top. Going into the last lap, Goettsch in lane 4 paces ahead of Jacob Gramer of DeKalb in lane 3 with Lohman in lane 6 making a surge after sitting in third for most of the race. He gets ahead of Gramer at the last second but it’s Goettsch who takes the event, by setting a meet record with a time of 46.60.
The 100 Butterfly is another close event. Tyler Bardak and Herscher bring it down to the wire on the last lap but it’s Bardak who edges him out to win the event for Waubonsie with a time of 51.20. Xu rounds out the top 3 to add to North’s consistent performance on the day.
Fast Forward to the final event of the day: the 400-yard freestyle relay. Waubonsie builds a great lead behind Bardak as Martens paces them forward. Naperville North’s Herscher has them in second, neck and neck with Redhawk swimmer Patrick Stern.
A wild finish as Naperville North boys swimming wins the DVC Championship
Way ahead is Sam Lohman in the anchor spot for Waubonsie, who swims to a commanding win in the relay. But the result was voided due to a false start called by the official. We’re not exactly sure which swimmer is called for leaving the blocks early but the result puts Naperville North in the winner’s spot of the event with a time of 3:16.89.
The last race is the decider, as Naperville North boys swimming wins the DVC Championship by three points over Waubonsie, taking home their first DVC Championship since 2010.
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