LF_011620

30 | January 16, 2020 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeaderDaily.com
Posted to LakeForestLeaderDaily.com 4 days ago
Scouts compete well at Evanston Invitational
Gary Larsen
Freelance Reporter
John Clawson competes in the Evanston Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 11, at Evanston High School. photos by
gary Larsen/22nd Century Media
Athletes improve when
they push themselves outside
of their comfort zone,
and there’s arguably no
more uncomfortable place
to swim during the regular
season than the annual
Evanston Invitational.
Lake Forest again competed
in an 18-team Evanston
field loaded with talent.
The Scouts placed
11th and wouldn’t trade
the experience for anything.
“We raced well,” Lake
Forest senior captain Luke
Lanigan said. “We’re in a
tough part of our training,
coming out of two weeks
of winter break with two
practices a day, and we had
a bunch of season’s best
times all around today.
We swam hard, competed
well, and I’m happy with
the effort today.”
Glenbrook South topped
the field of perennial state
power programs in Evanston
on Saturday, Jan. 11,
with Loyola second, St.
Charles North third, and
New Trier placing fourth.
Add top-shelf programs
like Stevenson and
Neuqua Valley, and some
of Illinois’ fastest swimmers
surrounded the pool.
“There are a bunch of
the top teams in the state
and a bunch of state champions
here,” Lanigan said.
“So it’s a really great opportunity
to watch the best
guys in the final heats here
to see how they attack
their races, and how they
do things differently to
help them compete at the
level they do.”
The Scouts improved
on last year’s 15th-place
finish, as Colin Kingsley
posted the highest individual
finish for the Scouts
with a sixth in the 500-
yard freestyle. Kingsley
also placed 11th in the 200
free.
The Scouts’ 400-yard
freestyle relay team of
Lanigan, co-captain Peter
Landis, Sidd Ojha, and
Kingsley finished ninth,
while the 200 freestyle
team of Lanigan, Kingsley,
Torsten Borowski and
John Clawson placed 10th.
“We’re really pleased
with the way we competed,”
Lake Forest coach
Cindy Dell said. “It helps
them to get out of their
conference box and race
against kids that they’re
not used to racing.
“It’s learning how to
take a risk, getting that
experience racing, and understanding
that where we
are now — we’ll be yards
ahead of that at the end of
the season.”
Lanigan also placed 11th
in a loaded field in the 100
freestyle, an event won by
defending state champion
Luke Maurer of Loyola.
Lanigan was a state
qualifier in the 100 and
200 freestyle last year, and
he’s angling to do the same
in his senior year.
“I’ve gone right around
the times I went last year,
and I’ve training hard and
working out a lot, so I’ll
just stay positive and keep
working on new things to
get better,” Lanigan said.
Dell will miss Lanigan
at season’s end.
“He’s awesome. He’s
just been one of our leaders
for four years,” Dell
said. “Peter and Luke have
done a great job as captains,
keeping the atmosphere
relaxed, and keeping
everyone loose.”
The foursome of Landis,
Borowski, Ojha, and
Clawson placed 13th in
the 800 medley relay. The
Scouts other highest finishers
were Borowski in
the 50 free and 100 backstroke,
Landis in the 200
individual medley and 100
breaststroke, and Ojha in
the 100 butterfly.
Lanigan wants his team
to use the experience
gained from competing in
one of Illinois’ top invitationals
to stay focused on
the season’s horizon.
“You can’t focus too
much on one race or one
meet,” Lanigan said. “It’s
a whole process and it’s
all about getting to a place
you want to be in February.
So as long as you’re
getting better each day,
focusing on technique and
improving races, you’ll be
where you want to be at
the end of the year.”
Sid Ojha works on his backstroke in the Evanston Invitational.