Boys Swimming: Lincoln-Way East Flexes its Muscle at Sectionals

Lincoln-Way East coach Kelly Byrne received a pleasant surprise following the IHSA boys sectional swimming meet Saturday afternoon at Homewood-Flossmoor. Her team dumped her in the pool to celebrate its first-place finish.

“I’m very happy. It’s great that we won.” Byrne said. “This year the competition definitely challenged us.”

The Griffins finished with 261 points, while Homewood-Flossmoor placed second with 230 points. Lincoln-Way North took third with 214.

Winners of events, as well as those that achieved state-qualifying times, move on to the state meet next weekend at New Trier High School.

Senior Kevin Rice and junior Michael Cardoso led the way for Lincoln-Way East. Rice finished in first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.19, while Cardoso won the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.32. Also, Rice and Cardoso were part of a Griffin team that won the 200 medley relay.

“I’ve been training all season for this,” Cardoso said following the 100 backstroke. “To be here now is awesome.”

Cardoso said he will swim hard at the beginning of the week, re-taper and get ready mentally in preparation for the state meet.

H-F senior Luke Dobben led the Vikings with first-place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyles.

“I just had to keep my nerves about me,” Dobben said following the 500 freestyle, which he finished in 4:41.98. “I won this race last year. I just kind of started my taper. I just had to keep my wits about me and have the confidence to come out here and do it again.”

Viking sophomore Kevin Kuchta won the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.03. H-F’s 200 and 400 free relay teams both won.

“I thought we did a great job today,” H-F coach Keith Dombkowski said. “We pretty much accomplished everything we wanted.”

Lincoln-Way North’s Tony Mikrut won the 100 butterfly. Teammate Jake Pearson finished in second in the 200 freestyle and qualified for the state meet with a time of 1:45.85. Pearson also qualified in the 500 freestyle.

Andrew finished fourth in the team chase.

“I thought we did well,” Andrew coach Frank Muchna said. “We had some real big time drops. We had a couple disappointments.”

Andrew senior diver Chris Kmiecik advanced to the state meet.

Oak Forest finished in fifth, while Lincoln-Way West placed sixth.

“We swam unbelievably well,” Lincoln-Way West coach Keith Huizinga said.

Huizinga said his team improved drastically from last year’s sectional. Warrior senior Ray Zulanas finished second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.05, good enough to qualify for state.

Lincoln-Way Central finished in eighth place overall, while Tinley Park finished in ninth.

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