Metea Valley hosts the boys swimming DVC Championship, with Naperville North entering as the reigning champion. Metea, Neuqua, Naperville Central, and DeKalb look to change last year’s result – All swimmers are preparing for Sectionals, which will be held at Neuqua on February 22. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Boys Swimming DVC Championship begins with the 200-yard freestyle
Participating in the 200yd free include North’s Kevin Chen and Jack Reif: Neuqua’s Ryan Watson and Arun Kaura, Waubonsie’s Arpan Dhar: and Central’s Grant James. Reif and Kaura are neck and neck as the two begin their battle for first place. Going down to the wire, Reif reaches the finish line first with a time of 1:44.08 as Kaura finishes in 1:45.09.
Now we have the 200-yard free relay. Wildcat Aly Hassanien and Husky Mason Hofmann start out in front. Neuqua’s Patrick Xu erases the early Husky lead as Gabriel Wu looks to capitalize. However, North’s Chen and Warrior Robert Hargrove narrow the gap. Going down to the wire, Neuqua’s Kaura has a slight lead over Husky Reif and the Wildcat just gets to the wall first. Neuqua’s team finishes at 1:27.75 as North finishes less than a second behind! Central’s relay team finishes in third with a time of 1:29.56.
Nearing the end of the day with the 100-yard backstroke. Wildcat teammates Ryan Watson and Jackson Wagoner start out side by side in the front. Down the stretch, Watson slowly develops a lead and secures the first place with a time of 53.07 seconds. Wagoner finishes just .30 seconds behind! North’s Carter Seiple and DeKalb’s Kevin Sullivan race for third as Seiple reaches the wall .23 seconds faster than Sullivan! Mustang Alex Liu is also right there in fifth place
Neuqua and North are stride for stride in team standings as the final races approach
Moving onto the last individual event, the 100yd breaststroke. North’s Hofmann comes out the gates with an amazing start with Wildcats Braden Meurer and Rocky Chan not far behind. As the race continues, Hofmann extends his lead as he soars to the finish line in 55.41 seconds, a new DVC record! He crushes the mark set by Mustang Jaeddan Gamilla at 57.10 seconds in 2023! Neuqua teammates Meurer and Chan finish in second and third.
The final event of the night is the 400yd free relay. Neuqua’s Kaura jumps out to an early lead as North’s Joshua Leu and Central’s Grant James slowly close the gap. Tony Newton increases the Wildcat lead, but here come the Huskies! Before the last switch, North’s Chen catches up and takes the lead for Max Fedorovski who doesn’t look back. Fedorovski reaches the wall first, giving North the relay win with a time of 3:13.72 seconds, four seconds faster than the Neuqua team.
Neuqua and North North boys swimming battled for the DVC Championship, with the Wildcats winning it by just 15 points! Neuqua wins the Championship with 301 points, with North ending in second and Waubonsie Valley in third place.
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