Waubonsie Valley boys swimming and diving celebrates Senior Night, while welcoming the dogs to the pool deck, the Huskies from Naperville North, that is. The regular season is entering the final weeks as preparation for post season competition is around the corner. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Naperville North makes a splash early in the meet
After winning the 200 medley relay to begin the meet, Naperville North looks for another win in the 200-yard freestyle. Mason Hofmann from North has the lead in lane four at the first turn ahead of a trio of Warriors, Arpan Dhar in lane three, Sri Amaravadi in lane five and Daniel Niv in lane seven. Hofmann is able to pull away in the final half of the race, winning by a little over five seconds with Amaravadi in second and Seniors Dhar and Niv in third and fourth. Hofmann goes on to win the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet.
Up next is the 200 IM as the Warriors attempt to break the Huskies’ early hold on the scoreboard. Zidan Lam in lane five and teammates Manny Perea and Ryan Oyedijo are near the front followed by Ryan Chen and Carter Seiple from Naperville North. Lam eventually takes the lead down the stretch to take the victory with Perea in second and Oyedijo in third as the Warriors sweep the top three spots.
The 50-yard freestyle is up next with the sprinters diving into the pool. Joshua Leu from Naperville North is in lane four next to Waubonsie swimmers Andrew Oyedijo in lane three and Arseni Branavitski in lane five. Leu has the early lead and holds on for the wire-to-wire victory at 23.11 seconds. Branavitski finishes in second just ahead of Oyedijo with Huskies Jacob Podkasik and Sharva Pandya in fourth and fifth.
Coming out of the break is the 100-yard butterfly as the meet approaches the midway point. Carter Seiple from Naperville North takes lane four with Ryan Oyedijo in lane five and Sri Amaravadi in lane three and Daniel Niv up in lane seven. Oyedijo has the lead at the turn just ahead of Seiple and Amaravadi. As the race nears the finish, Oyedijo holds on for the win at 55.74 seconds with Amaravadi edging Seiple at the wall for second. Niv finishes in fourth with Kevin Chen from North in fifth.
The 100-yard freestyle is next with Joshua Leu back in lane four looking for his second victory of the night. Arpan Dhar keeps pace in lane five with Husky Jackson Falk in lane six in the hunt as well. Leu wins the race to the wall at 50.27 seconds with Dhar a second and a half behind him and Falk in third. The team standings are neck and neck with five races to go. Naperville North sweeps all freestyle events on the night.
The Warriors take the lead with late race victories
Naperville North takes the lead after wins in the 500 free and the 200 free relay, but Waubonsie Valley is not far behind. In the 100-yard backstroke, Kevin Chen from Naperville North swims in lane four with Aidan Miller from Waubonsie in lane five. Jackson Falk is in lane six with Warrior Felipe Maya in lane three. In the closest race of the night, Miller is able to come from behind to take the narrow victory over Chen. Falk finishes in third as the Warriors retake the lead in the team standings.
In the 100-yard breast stroke, Max Fedorovskiy from Naperville North looks for another win for the Huskies from lane four. Zidan Lam is right beside him in lane five as the two jump way out in front of the rest of the competition. Fedorovskiy holds off Lam for the first place finish, but the Warriors pick up some key points from Brayden Kelderhouse who finishes in third, allowing Waubonsie to build a big enough lead to hold onto the team victory, despite Naperville North winning the 400 free relay to end the meet. Waubonsie Valley boys swimming enjoys a competitive Senior Night win over Naperville North 96-90.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!