Naperville North hoping to dislodge New Trier at finals

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Naperville North 200 yard freestylers Kevin Butz and Andrew Eiken (top) lead a close heat at the Metea Valley IHSA Sectional on Saturday. | Jon Cunningham~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 23, 2012 8:18AM

It all comes down to this weekend for the boys swimmers and divers throughout Illinois.

The preliminary round of the state swimming and diving meet will be held at Evanston Township High School on Friday, but all the top swimmers and divers are focused on making it to Saturday with a top-twelve finish.

Those who place 7-12 will be in Saturday’s consolation round while the top six will be finalists and will be vying for the state title.

While any qualifier can turn in a top-twelve performance on Friday, the seeding for state, which is based on times put up at last week’s sectional, is a good indication of who will be vying for the top spots in the finals.

A number of local swimmers and relay teams are seeded in or near the top dozen in their respective events and are among those expected to score on Saturday.

“A majority of winners will come from the known times,” said Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter. “But there will be one or two kids in some events who do something spectacular in the prelims.”

While New Trier is an overwhelming favorite to repeat as state champion, Naperville North is still hopeful for the top spot, while realistically shooting for a top three trophy.

“We’re looking for a trophy,” said McWhirter. “New Trier has so many qualifiers in good positions that the hunt is probably for second place. And our boys have it within them to do amazing things this weekend.”

In winning last week’s Metea Valley Sectional the Huskies placed a number of swimmers in or near the top twelve, but other Naperville-area schools are also well represented among the top-seeded swimmers in each event.

Here’s a rundown of the locals who are in the best position to score at state, though any qualifier could have that great race on Friday in order to advance to the finals.

200 freestyle: Andrew Eiken of Naperville North, who missed last season with a shoulder injury, goes to state with the second-fastest time in Illinois, and going into the meet as the third-seed is Naperville Central’s Sean Lehane. Kevin Butz, who has the eighth fastest time, gives the Huskies another candidate for top-six.

“Andrew is coming back to his full potential,” McWhirter said. “He’ll have great time drops in what will be his first big meet since his sophomore year.”

200 individual medley: The Huskies’ Nick Bessler starts the weekend as the fifth seed and Neuqua Valley sophomore Drew Dvorchak seemingly came out of nowhere to grab the No. 11 post. Matt Salerno of Metea Valley, Connor Lamb of Naperville Central and Robert Vechiola of Neuqua Valley all have decent chances to make it to Saturday.

“Bessler loves the huntdown,” said McWhirter. “He comes off that last wall and wins his races in the last 23 yards.”

50 freestyle: This is probably the weakest race for the Naperville schools. There were only two qualifiers from the Metea Valley Sectional and neither of the Waubonsie Valley qualifiers — Adam Stacklin and Joe Poletto — are among the leaders. But, with a good taper they can certainly improve on last Saturday’s outstanding showing.

Diving: There are no Naperville divers among the leaders, but sectional winner Kyle Faulkner of Naperville Central has been improving all year and can be put down as a longshot.

100 butterfly: The versatile Bessler carries the Huskies banner again as a five-seed. Nate Weeks of Naperville Central, who has been battling Bessler for many years in this event, starts in the ninth position. Neuqua’s Dvorchak and Jerry Wu and Metea Valley’s Zack McClernon are also contenders.

100 freestyle: Ninth-seeded Eiken is the highest-rated local swimmer. Waubonsie Valley’s Stacklin and Naperville North’s great relay man Tom Hubbard both have an outside chance to make some noise here.

500 freestyle: There could be two scorers for Naperville North. Eric Curia was the talk of last week’s sectional when he put up the second-fastest time in the state. His teammate Butz is one of the best distance swimmers around and coach McWhirter is counting on a strong taper to thrust Butz into the finals on Saturday.

“We’re looking for Eric to continue impressing people,” said McWhirter. “Butz had a big time-drop at state last year in the 500. He’s ready for the big race.”

100 backstroke: Defending state-champion Lehane has been breaking records in this event all year. As the second seed he’s in good position to defend his title. Naperville North junior Sam Hiller and the Wildcats’ Vechiola could distinguish themselves from further back in the pack.

100 breaststroke: Hail Metea Valley!! The Mustangs go into state with the No. 1 seeded swimmer, Michael Stack, and he’s determined to go all the way. Weeks of the Redhawks is a legitimate contender from a top-20 position.

Relays: Since the three relays are worth double the points of the individual events, the Huskies are counting on strong races in order to qualify for a trophy. They go in with the fastest time in the 200 medley relay, the second fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay, though they have been the fastest at various points during the season, and they go into the 200 freestyle relay from the seventh spot less than a second behind the leader New Trier.

“We’re looking for good times on Friday,” said McWhirter. “We believe that all three relays still have more to show.”

Naperville Central, the 2010 state champion and renowned for dropping times at state, is in the tenth slot in the 400 freestyle and near the top twelve in the 200 medley relay.

Waubonsie Valley, which boasts a host of great sprinters, goes into Friday in ninth in the 200 free and twelfth in the 400 free. Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley are near the top group in the 400 free.