Boys Swimming: Deerfield edges Highland Park in a true thriller
By Mark Perlman Contributor January 31, 2012 10:30PM
Deerfield's Daniel Perlovsky contends in the 200-yard medley relay during Friday's meet against Highland Park. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:11AM
There were a lot of swimmers — and races — that one can point to from Deerfield’s thrilling, come-from-behind, 93-91 victory over arch rival Highland Park in the Warriors pool on Friday.
But maybe none more so than Mark Stern, who won the 100-yard butterfly (55.37) at a critical stage of the competition.
But it was so much more that Stern did aside the victory stand.
“We needed a third swimmer for the 500 free,” said Deerfield coach John Sullivan. “Mark finished fourth and swam his best time (5:28.87).”
Every point counted for Deerfield against Highland Park, and certainly that race was one of the differences.
“That was a huge race by him. He swam hard,” Sullivan said. “He didn’t get a lot of rest in between his races. But he’s a tough type of individual that gives everything he’s got.”
Everyone seemed to have a good time at the highly charged dual meet.
“It was a really fun meet,” Sullivan said. “There was a lot of noise in the pool and a lot of tight races.”
The overall team competition was a stroke-for-stroke affair, as races were contested down to the final length.
“We knew coming in that this would be a close dual meet,” Sullivan said. “All the way through, every race, every touch was important.”
At one point, the Warriors trailed by eight points, with victory seemingly fading away.
“The guys didn’t stop swimming,” Sullivan said. “They were able to come back.”
One of the big differences for Deerfield was diving, as the Warriors went 1-2-3 behind Sean Scarry (212.95 points), Ryan Church (203.75) and John Bromberg (158).
“It was kind of nice to see how well both teams were swimming, since a lot of the swimmers went through Coho together,” Sullivan said.
Highland Park was up by two points going into the final race, the 400 freestyle relay.
“It was quite an exciting relay with a lot of drama,” Sullivan said.
Alex Howard was neck-and-neck with Highland Park’s Ben Laedlein in the first leg, while Sean Scopelliti — swimming second — gave the Warriors a slight lead. Eddie Kochman — swimming the third leg — gave the Giants a lead heading into the final leg. But Chris Roberts of the Warriors took over, and Deerfield finished in 3:39.38. HP’s time was 3:30.21.
“He gave it all he had,” said Sullivan, praising Roberts. “He controlled the race the last 100 and did a great job of bringing it home.”
Recap: Kevin Ewing played a major role in the win. He won the 200 free (1:52.43) and 100 back (55.72). He also teamed with Daniel Perlovsky, Stern and Roberts in the 200 medley, which took second.
Perlovsky was second in the 200 IM (2:13.93) and 100 breaststroke (1:09.45) — just ahead of teammate Evan Horwitz (1:09.96) — while Roberts was second in the 50 free (22.73) and 100 free (50.80).
Joey Barr claimed second in the 500 free (5:14.85) and third in the 200 free (1:55.49).
On the schedule: Deerfield visits Maine East for a Central Suburban League North dual meet at 5 p.m. Friday.
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