The 2016 Illinois Boys High School State Championship took place on Friday and Saturday, with one prelim session Friday and one finals session Saturday. Lyons took home the title amassing 146 points, edging out second place Naperville C who had 122 and third place Hinsdale Central who had 117.
Hinsdale Central got off to a good start at finals, winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:32.39, just ahead of Lyons who were 2nd in 1:32.81. A fast backstroke split from Craig Smith (23.59) and a fast fly leg from Franco Reyes (21.55) gave Hinsdale the edge over Lyons. The top 4 teams, Hinsdale, Lyons, Naperville, and St. Charles North all were under the auto All-American standard of 1:34.13.
In the 200 yard freestyle Lake Forest’s Dylan Boyd threw down a very impressive time of 1:37.67, winning by over 2 seconds. That time gets him well under the Auto time of 1:39.07. He still has a ways to go to challenge Reed Malone’s high school state record of 1:35.60. Colton Paulson of Notre Dame came in for 2nd in 1:39.78, and Christian Kearney of Loyola Academy was 3rd in 1:41.03.
Andrew Loy of Normal West was victorious in a very close race in the 200 IM, emerging ahead dog Glenbrook South’s Sam Iida by just 0.20. Loy touched first in 1:48.13, with Iida just behind in 1:48.33. Loy opened up an advantage with a fast opening fly leg of 23.57, but Iida closed the gap on the breast and free, just running out of pool. Both were under the auto standard of 1:50.28. Byron’s Caleb Carlson came in for 3rd in 1:51.53.
The 50 freestyle saw another close finish where three boys got under 20 seconds. Champaign Central’s Payton Woods picked up the win, coming in at 20.94. Sam Neaveill of Notre Dame finished 2nd in 20.97, and Sam Dunford of Downers Grove was 3rd in 20.98. Top seed from the prelims Kevin Braun of McHenry wasn’t able to recreate his prelim swim of 20.71 and settled for 4th in 21.05.
Heading into the diving break, Lyons held a 12 point lead over Naperville C. Hinsdale, New Trier, and Notre Dame were all not far behind Naperville in the battle for second.
Payton Staman of Hononegah pulled out a win in the 1-meter diving competition, amassing a score of 475.05. Chirsitan Canning of Loyola Academy finished close behind for 2nd with 468.15, and Maxim Royzen of Niles North was 3rd with 462.90.
After winning gold in the 200 medley relay earlier, Hinsdale’s Franco Reyes had a convincing win in the 100 fly, touching in 47.50. The top seed from prelims, Daniel Hein of DeKalb, couldn’t handle Reyes in the final and had to settle for 2nd touching in 48.15. Alex Dillman of Metea Valley was 3rd in 49.20. All three were under the auto standard of 49.37.
Joe Myhre of St.Charles North earned himself an auto time winning the 100 free in 44.92, the only guy under 45 seconds. 2nd place finisher Sam Neaveill of Notre Dame managed to get under 45 in the prelims (44.87), but couldn’t recreate it in the final (45.50). Andrew Loy of Normal West earned his second medal of the meet finishing 3rd in 45.74.
After finishing 2nd in the 200, Notre Dame’s Colton Paulson won the 500 free, touching in a swift time of 4:25.87. Sam Iida picked up his second runner-up finish of the day coming in at 4:26.95, and Ryan Netzel of Plainfield Central was 3rd in 4:33.01. Both Paulson and Iida were under the auto standard of 4:29.64.
Hinsdale Central picked up their second relay win in the 200 free relay, just out-touching Naperville C by 0.13. Hinsdale came in for the win at 1:23.70, with Naperville C just behind in 1:23.83 and Lyons just behind them for 3rd in 1:24.14. Franco Reyes lead-off of 20.40 was the key leg for Hinsdale. This win brought Hinsdale within 1 point of 2nd place which belonged to Notre Dame, and just 9 back of 1st place Lyons.
100 fly runner-up Daniel Hein of DeKalb won easily in the 100 back, touching over 1.5 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Hein won in 48.37, crushing the auto standard of 49.85. Tyler Sesvold of Wheaton Academy came in 2nd at 49.98, and Scott Piper of Naperville C was 3rd in 50.29.
Charlie Scheinfeld of New Trier won a very close finish in the 100 breast, as the top-3 were all within 0.14. Scheinfeld touched in 55.90 for the win, with William Myhre closed behind for 2nd in 55.95 and Brandon Tran in for 3rd at 56.04. Those three, along with Weston Credit (56.24) were all under the auto standard of 56.25.
In the final event, Lyons put a stamp on their meet win, taking the 400 free relay in a time of 3:04.71. Naperville C finished 2nd in 3:05.67, and Hinsdale Central was 3rd in 3:05.79, as the top-3 finished in the same order as they did in the overall rankings. Lyons had fast 2nd and 3rd leg splits from Ben Breitenbucher (45.87) and Weston Credit (45.87), and Naperville C had a fast anchor from Eric Gerlach (45.26). Hinsdale Central’s Franco Reyes impressed again, leading off in a 45.34.
Final Team Scores
- Lyons 146
- Naperville C 122
- Hinsdale Central 117
- Notre Dame 104
- New Trier 82
Full team rankings can be found at the live results link.
