As the Munster boys swimming team won the conference championship Saturday, Highland junior Ethan Churilla was breaking records while recovering from the flu.
Churilla confirmed he felt fine after breaking his own record in the 200 freestyle (1:42.37) and beating the record set last year by Lowell’s Ethan Krucina in the 100 freestyle (46.24).
The Trojans finished second with 261 points behind the Mustangs’ 407 in the Northwest Crossroads Conference Meet at Jon Jepsen Pool in Munster.
The Munster girls, who were led by junior Kay Foley’s conference record-breaking performances in the 200 freestyle (1:49.2) and the 500 freestyle (4:53.58), captured the meet with 402 points. Lowell finished second with 260.
“It’s been rough swimming with the flu,” Churilla said. “It was nice to see that even with the illness that I was able to come out and perform at such a high level.
“My time last year in the 200 was a pretty fast time, and I thought it would be hard to beat. It’s nice to see that I’ve progressed from last season.”
Churilla said he always loves the competition against Krucina, which made breaking Krucina’s 100 free record of 46.47 all the more satisfying.
“We’re very good competition in 50 and 100,” Churilla said. “We’re always battling it out and pretty close. We both set records. It’s always a battle of who can out do each other.
“I am proud of the team because some of these conference teams have beat us, and we bounced back from those losses.”
Highland coach Nick Castillo said Churilla received inspiration from a Trojans swimming product who was at pool side to cheer on the team.
“Christian Zendejas (a 2017 alum) said to Ethan that you have to be like (Michael) Jordan when he played with the flu that one time,” he said. “Ethan knows they’re all gunning for him and he’s the guy to beat. We like that target on our back.
“There’s always obstacles to overcome, and this was a good test for Ethan. (Saturday’s) performance shows you what kind of swimmer Ethan is.”
On the girls side, Hobart freshman Emma Wright took first in the 50 freestyle (24.80) and tied a 10-year old conference mark in the 100 freestyle (53.12), which was set by Highland’s Nikki Saulters in 2008.
“It was very cool,” Wright said. “I’ve worked very hard to try to achieve my goals. I want to win sectionals, and I’m happy that I’m still undefeated. I visualize all my races and push really hard.
“My parents and my brother Nathan (a sophomore swimmer for Hobart) have really helped me.”
Conference records also were broken by Munster’s Grant Afman in the 100 butterfly (50.50) and Kyle Adams in the 100 breaststroke (57.73). Afman topped Highland’s Stephen Castillo’s 2013 record of 50.73, while Adams shattered his previous record of 58.77 set last year.
“We had a lot of fast times and some great performances throughout,” Munster coach Matt Pavlovich said. “Kay, Grant and Kyle were outstanding. It was a good day for us.”
Anthony Nasella is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
