It’s Senior Night for Neuqua Valley boys swimming as they host the Naperville North Huskies. Both teams enter the day after competing at the New Trier invite, where Neuqua finished fifth and North took 11th. The postseason is approaching, with the DVC meet beginning on February 7. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Starting the night with a pair of 200-yard races
Let’s start the night with the 200-yard freestyle. This is a battle between Huskie Jack Reif in lane four and Wildcat Arun Kaura in lane five. About halfway through, Reif and Kaura are stride-for-stride. Coming to the wall, the Huskie senior gets the win with a time of 1:46.13, with Kaura 1.30 seconds behind! Patrick Xu of North secures third place.
Just into the 200-yard IM, where Huskie Max Fedorovskiy leads the race in lane four against Wildcat Jack Langan in lane five. About halfway through the race, the Huskie still has the upper hand over the Wildcat. At the end, Fedorovskiy has grown his lead even more, and he takes the race win with a time of 2:00.20. Langan is about 2.5 seconds behind in second, with Braden Meurer of Neuqua taking third place at 2:03.24.
The Wildcats look to respond as we head to the 50-yard relay. It’s a back-and-forth battle between lane four of Huskie Mason Hofmann and lane five of Wildcat Aly Hassanien. Tony Newton of Neuqua in lane three is also right there, along with another Wildcat in Gabe Wu in lane seven. It’s a photo finish, with Hassanien pulling ahead in first with a time of 22.60, just .02 seconds faster than Hofmann! Newton ends under a second behind in third place.
Kaura and Fedorovskiy race neck and neck in the 100-yard freestyle
We get the 100-yard freestyle underway and it’s another close one between North and Neuqua. Kaura the Wildcat in lane five and Fedorovskiy in lane four go at it the entire time, with the Wildcat inching further and further ahead as the race goes on. Kaura takes the top spot at a time of 48.74 seconds as Fedorovskiy ends just behind him at 49.16.
Let’s get the 200-yard freestyle underway, with four Neuqua teams and three North teams competing. The relay teams in lanes three through five get out in front early. About halfway through, the Huskies team of Josh Leu, Hofmann, Reif, and Fedorovskiy in lane four are dead even with the Wildcat team of Kaura, Newton, Xu, and Hassanien in lane five. 1:28:67 seconds. At the wall, the Huskies take it over the Wildcat, edging them out by about half a second at 1:29.35.
Keeping the night going, we’re at the 100-yard backstroke, and the Wildcats shine in this event. Sophomore Jackson Wagoner in lane four, Newton in lane three, and Ryan Watson in lane seven sweep the podium for Neuqua Valley. Wagoner ends at 55.18, with Newton at 57.46, and Watson about half a second behind in third place.
Neuqua Valley boys swimming beats Naperville North on senior night
Only two more races on the night, and here’s the 100-yard breaststroke. Halfway through, Hoffman of the Huskies in lane four and Meurer of the Wildcats in lane five are battling for first place, with the Huskie just pulling ahead on the final push. Heading to the wall… It’s Hoffman who wins it at 58.44, and Meurer ends at 58.95! The following person to finish is Neuqua senior Rocky Chan in lane seven at 1:03.90
Closing the evening with one of the most exciting races, the 400-yard freestyle relay! The Wildcats look to finish Senior Night off strong and are lead by their top relay team, none of whom are seniors of Peter Caroll, Hassanien, Langan, and Kaura in lane five. It’s a close one between them and North’s team of Leu, Reif, Fedorovskiy, and Hofmann in lane four. Neuqua’s other team lurks just behind in third place in lane three as we head towards the end of the race. On the final push, The Wildcat team in lane five wins by about one and a half seconds over North in lane four!
Neuqua also earns third place in the race, as the Wildcats secure a win on senior night. They take down Naperville North 116-69 for another DVC victory this season.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!