Hinsdale South`s runner-up finish to St. Charles, bringing the school its first trophy from a state swim meet, had the Hornets throwing everyone in the pool–coaches, swimmers, managers, students and parents. ”You can see we`re going bananas,” said Hinsdale South coach Rick Townsend, whose Hornets scored 108 points to edge Hinsdale Central (103) for second. St. Charles won the meet with 174 points. ”I`m ecstatic,” said Townsend, who concluded his seventh and best season as coach at the school. ”I have to say this is the greatest thing to happen to Hinsdale South swimming. We never reached this plateau before. These kids, I can`t say enough about them.” . . . Hinsdale South`s 200-yard medley relay team of seniors Mike Hemenway, Bob Allen and Rich Evertz and sophomore Brian Kurza won Saturday in 1 minute 35.94 seconds after setting an Illinois High School Association state-series record of 1:35.79 in Friday`s preliminaries. The quartet was slightly disappointed they didn`t break the pool record of 1:35.70, set by Hinsdale Central in 1972. ”We wanted to get the pool record, to have our names up there, but it just wasn`t meant to be,” Kurza said. ”We were shooting for that all season. Every time we talked about it, we`d get so psyched up. We wanted it so bad.” . . . Kurza also swam on the third-place 400 freestyle relay, along with senior Chris Lapsey, Evertz and Hemenway, and won the 50 freestyle in 21.08. Hinsdale Central`s David Costello was second in 21.38, just as Kurza knew he would be. ”I just knew it would be me and Costello, side by side,” Kurza said. ”Brian Kurza is such a natural talent, he`ll be here forever,” Lapsey said, referring to the state meet. ”If I had half the natural talent Brian Kurza had, I`d easily be a state champion.” . . . Kurza and Townsend admitted any remote thoughts they had of beating St. Charles vanished during Friday`s prelims. Lapsey never did think anyone would get close to the Saints. ”No. Honestly, no,” he said.
”They have just got too much. They`re the only team that comes with depth in the state meet.” . . . Double winners David Fix and Andy Edmondson led the Saints to their fifth consecutive state title, but St. Charles coach Dave Bart still keeps the team concept up front. ”The first priority is to win state,” Bart said. ”That`s what it`s all about. Individuals are performing because they`re representing the school. They take a lot of pride in the program. They make the coach look good. They swim with the desire and the intensity.”
Edmondson and Fix are graduating, but St. Charles will build next year around Fred Westhoff, Chris Szabo, Bob Foster, Steve Pala and diver Mark Wainwright. Westhoff, a junior, could be the leader. He was second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 free Saturday. Pala, a freshman, finished fourth in the 500 free. Wainwright took fourth in diving. . . . Hinsdale Central will be in a position to challenge St. Charles next year. The Red Devils will lose only three seniors. Graduating will be Costello and Scott Price, both of whom swam on the third-place 200 medley relay and the second-place 400 free relay, and Phil Mavon, who took eighth in diving. ”We actually scored more than we were supposed to,” said Hinsdale Central coach Tom Schweer. ”We were dealing with a lot of freshmen here and they responded well.” Tops among those freshmen is Brian Gunn, who finished second to Fix in the 500 free, 4:35.96 to 4:34.43, took 11th in the 200 free and swam a leg on the 400 free relay. ”I would expect him to go under 4:30 next year,” Schweer said. ”He`s just starting to grow. His dad is 6-5 and Brian is only 5-10.” Said Gunn: ”That`s the good thing about it. You really don`t have to worry about anything–you`re a freshman.” Also returning for Hinsdale Central next year will be juniors Keith Culshaw, who took fourth in the 100 backstroke and swam on both relays, and Tom Ashworth, who swam on the 200 medley relay. In addition, the Red Devils also will have John Flynn, a sophomore who missed out on this year`s state meet because of the flu. Flynn swims the 200 and 500 freestyles. ”He would have scored 10 points for us,” Schweer said. . . . Naperville North`s Fabio Minervini, who moved from Italy three years ago, concluded his high school career by winning the 100 breaststroke in 58.11 and swimming on the second-place 200 medley relay and the fourth-place 400 free relay.
GYMNASTICS
Records may indeed be made to be broken, but Saturday night`s state finals were too much. Stagg senior Lisa Peterson, who won the all-around title Friday night, started the assault with a 9.80 in vaulting, beating the mark of 9.60 set in 1983 by Glenbard North`s Beth Benevente. Peterson did a handspring front somersault. ”I just went out there to go for everything,” Peterson said. ”There was nothing to lose. The pressure of the all-around was gone, so I figured I`d have some fun.” On balance beam, Saturday night`s third event, Michele Hernandez of Fremd tied the mark established by Janne Klepek of Lyons Townshiop last year with a 9.60. Two competitors later, De Kalb senior Sonya Brandon scored an astounding 9.70 on beam–what has to be the most difficult event of all. She did back-to-back aerial cartwheels and followed with back-to-back flips. ”Friday, I was conservative and held back,” said Brandon.
”My goal was just making it to the finals. I never thought about winning or breaking a record.” Brandon`s 9.70 was the highest score in finals`
history, until Hernandez`s floor exercise routine. Hernandez brought a capacity crowd to its feet with a dazzling set. She earned a 9.90. ”I just wanted to go out and not hold anything back,” said Hernandez. ”What can I do for an encore? Wait till next year.” . . . Forest View sophomore Chris Hrbacek, whose 9.50 took the uneven parallel bars title, will have surgery in April for damaged cartilage in her left knee. The problem didn`t come up Saturday. ”I didn`t even think about my knee,” Hrbacek said. ”Last year, I watched everybody else before it was my turn. This year, I concentrated on my own routine.”
BASKETBALL
Coach Bill Geist has turned Benet Academy into a powerhouse that won`t quit. The Redwings, who have won 98 games in a row on their home court, have won 20 or more games for 11 straight years. That`s the most consecutive 20-win seasons of any Chicago-area team. Providence-St. Mel has seven straight 20-win seasons; St. Joseph and Simeon have won 20 or more for the last six years. . . . Chicago Christian coach Will Slager, whose Knights meet St. Anne Tuesday night in the Momence Class A sectional, needs just three victories to reach 700. . . . When Cregier lost to Manley 127-125 last week, the Tigers tied the national high school record for most points in a loss, set by Manhattan Vocational of New York in a 153-125 loss to Chelsea Vocational in 1971. The 252 points scored by both teams was the second-highest total in Illinois history, three points shy of the 255 points scored in Cregier`s 138-117 victory over Near North in 1982.
GIRLS` BASKETBALL
Who`s the best player in Illinois? Some of the leading candidates are Marshall forward Sheryl Porter, Maria guard Nancy Niego, Lake Zurich`s high-scoring Lisa Foss and Peoria Manual center Carla McGee. . . . Top-ranked Maine South can clinch the Central Suburban League South Division championship in its regular-season finale Friday at New Trier. The Hawks handed the Trevians their only league loss, a 59-54 decision in January.
HOCKEY
Lake Forest finished sixth in the Metro League North Division with a 6-9-1 record, but the Scouts can boast about Mike Karnicki. The senior left wing was the leading scorer in the division with 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points. . . . York`s Mark Esposito, son of former Black Hawk goaltender Tony Esposito, was the No. 1 scorer in the Metro League West Division. The senior center had 46 goals and 36 assists in 25 games. Teammate Mike Real was the third-highest scorer in the division with 36 goals and 21 assists. . . . Playoff dates to remember: One Metro League quarterfinal game is March 1, the other three are March 2. The semifinals are March 5, one at the Oakton Ice Rink in Park Ridge, the other at the Winnetka Ice Arena. The title game is March 9 at the Robert Crown Ice Center in Evanston. The state championship game is March 23 at the Franklin Park Ice Arena. The state quarterfinals are March 20-21 and the semifinals March 22 at Franklin Park.
WRESTLING
Julian won the Public League individual championship with five state qualifiers and 122 points to 71 for second-place Orr, the league`s
representative in the state dual meet tournament. The Jaguars, who lost to Orr 41-13 in the city dual meet tournament, got championships from Vernon Harvey
(98 pounds), Donald Webster (105), Antoine Terrell (112), Sam Cohen (126)
and Alex Knighten (145). Stanley Baxter was second at 167. . . . Enter Collins` Mark Scott into the heavyweight sweepstakes. Scott (38-0) defeated Fenger`s Andre Anderson (37-2) 10-5. . . . Schurz`s Brian Hayes improved his record to 23-0 by winning the Public League title at 167 with an 8-0 victory over Julian`s Baxter. . . . The winner of the Leyden sectional heavyweight title was supposed to be in for a reward–being placed in the opposite bracket as Anderson. Leyden`s Eric Wenckowski defeated Conant`s Carl Presley 11-3. Presley will now meet Scott in the first round if he wins his preliminary while Wenckowski could meet Anderson in the semifinals. . . . The bottom bracket of the Class AA duals has a Chuck Farina factor. The Leyden coach and his team will face Libertyville at 2:30 p.m. Friday while two of his former pupils will meet in the other lower bracket quarterfinal. Bill Cartwright`s top-ranked Proviso East team takes on Mark Gervais` No. 3-ranked Marist squad. Farina loves to win, but if he has to lose to someone, a former Leyden wrestler is his preference. ”If we get beat by one of those two guys, I`d be proud of them,” said Farina, who is a fan of the dual tournament. ”I don`t think the old individual sectional could compare with what we had Tuesday night for excitement,” he said of the Eagles` victory over Lake Park. ”It was like a basketball supersectional. It was really exciting.” . . . Hoffman Estates coach Angelo Testone is a strong opponent of the state dual meet system. ”I`d like to see us got back to the old system,” he said. ”I don`t like this at all. It takes a lot of fun out of the sectionals. Before, if you had four or five wrestlers, you still had a chance. After this (regionals)
there are only four teams that have a chance in the sectional. After the sectionals, there are only eight teams that have a chance. It`s too much wrestling, too. We`re trying to imitate football and basketball (with a team tournament) and we`re not like them. These are not bionic wrestlers, they are kids.”
