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38 | December 15, 2016 | The frankfort station sports
frankfortstation.com
Griffins rout former teammates at LW Central
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way East swimmer
Andy Grever stepped
up on the platform for his
first race, the 200-yard freestyle.
To his left was senior
Mason Maze and to his
right, junior Tim Murphy,
both former East swimmers
now competing for Lincoln-
Way Central.
He noticed not the color of
their trunks, but their faces
as friends who have competed
with one another over
the years, and had joked
throughout the Dec. 8 meet
at Central — despite being
competitors.
“We were family, but
we’re still family,” Grever
said. “It doesn’t matter what
color we wear. We’re all
friends.”
Grever beat his former
teammates on a day when
East, loaded with former
Lincoln-Way North swimmers
and divers after North’s
closure, showcased its depth
in a 135-45 win over Central.
“I coached some of (the
Central swimmers) for three
years, so it was fun to see
them,” East coach Kelly
Byrne said. “Our outlook today
was, ‘Let’s just go have
a good meet with them.’
They’re teammates, they’re
friends still. It’s good,
friendly competition. You
could see that camaraderie.
It just holds from the time
they were freshman to now.”
East won 10 of the 11 races
and took the diving competition
because Central did not
have any competitors. East’s
Matt Hennessy beat out
teammate Cole Chojnacki,
both former North divers, to
win that competition.
Seven different Griffins
won an individual race:
Grever won the 200 freestyle,
Mason Rhode won
the 200 individual medley,
Mason Rhode swims for Lincoln-Way East against Central.
Eric Stelmar finished first
in the 50 freestyle, Trevor
Horn won the 100 freestyle,
Colin Brady won the 500
freestyle, Bryce Wyma took
first in the 100 backstroke
and Dante Smith won the
100 breaststroke.
The three relay teams that
won for East each had a mix
of different swimmers, as
well.
Wyma, Brady, Rhode
and Jonathan Limp won the
200 medley relay. Grever,
returning state qualifier
Kellen Bachler, Horn and
Limp took first in the 200
free relay. Limp, Grever,
Stelmar and Wyma won the
400 free relay.
“I’m glad they’re doing
good, because some of those
kids I coached for a long
time (at North),” Central
coach Pat Shaughnessy said.
“I told the boys ‘(East is)
good, but we’re not comparing
ourselves to them. We’re
going to swim what we want
to swim and swim how we
want to swim. That’s what
we’re going to focus on.’”
Lincoln-Way East’s Jared Bruni (left) and Central’s Mason Maze (right) compete in the
200 yard freestyle Dec. 8 in a meet. East beat Central 135-45. Photos by Julie McMann/22nd
Century Media
Jared Bruni swims in the 200 freestyle Dec. 8.
As a team, East finished
1-2-3 in four of the 11 races:
the 200 medley relay,
200 individual medley, 50
freestyle and 100 freestyle.
Byrne said she was happy
with the finishes, but it’s
improvement of individual
times that will become more
important than places as the
young season progresses toward
the postseason.
“The depth makes for a
more competitive team, because
they’re going to be
racing each other for a sectional
spot or racing each
other for a conference spot,”
Byrne said. “So really, it just
raises the bar for our team. It
just makes everybody faster.
Central’s lone win came
from sophomore Danny
O’Brien, who swam for East
last year. O’Brien won the
100 butterfly (58.51) by 2.17
seconds.
Murphy, a former East
swimmer, missed winning
the 100 backstroke (58.18)
by 1.08 seconds. He also
finished second (1:55.99) in
the 200 freestyle, 5.9 seconds
behind Grever, a state
qualifier and his former
teammate.
O’Brien, Murphy, Maze
and senior Dylan Sterling
took second in the 200 freestyle
relay and third in the
400 freestyle relay. Maze was
a state qualifier for East last
season, while Sterling qualified
for state for Central.
“We’ve only been together
as a team for three weeks,”
Shaughnessy said. “I was
coaching girls (swimming)
in the fall, so I didn’t see the
boys in the offseason. We’re
still coming together as a
team, and I’m learning about
the boys. I’m just happy the
transition is going well.”