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THe North shore weekend
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“I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out for the team,” Boyd recalled. He went out for the team. He made the varsity team. But the whole team atmosphere was, well, foreign to him. Understandably so. “In Australia,” Dell said, “more emphasis was placed on individuals, instead of the team. Dylan didn’t quite understand that. New school, new training, new friends, new everything. It was difficult to adjust to all of that.” Boyd qualified for the state meet last winter as a member of the Scouts’ 400 free relay. He swam leg No. 3. The other legs were Daniel Smith, Michael LeMay and Symen Ooms, all of them current seniors. The quartet finished 13th (3:12.65), missing a berth in the consolation finals by one spot. Boyd trained with the Lake Forest Swim Club in the offseason. Things started to change. Things got more comfortable for Boyd. “It’s very difficult to find yourself, at first, in this community,” Boyd said. “Now, though, I feel mentally stronger. Pressure is off. I know what to expect.” Dell knows she has a veritable force in Boyd, a reliable points-producer at meets. What he accomplished at last weekend’s invite — one gold, three silvers — demanded rounds and rounds of applause. Boyd, though, wasn’t exactly fresh and rested for that medal-heavy show. Boyd swam 4,500 yards in Lake Forest’s pool before getting on a bus bound for Evanston. He wasn’t alone that morning. His teammates swam the same distance. Tom Brady threw for 4,109 yards in 16 regular-season games for the New England Patriots in 2014, for those looking for a little perspective. Scouts swimmers arrived at the meet
tired. They swam some more. They left tired. It’s January, No. 12 on a typical swimmer’s list of favorite months of the year. “I had them swim those yards because of the weather [during the week],” Dell said of the frigid conditions that forced some North Shore schools to close and cancel sports practices. Boyd must have been spent, dog-tired, when he climbed a starting block for the first time on Jan. 10. It did not matter. He needed a little more than 52 seconds to complete the race, to win the race. Runner-up Joe Widuch of Neuqua Valley needed 52.6 to complete the same race. It had to be tempting. Tempting for anybody in the Scouts’ camp to ask Widuch, “So, Joe, how many yards did you swim at your pool this morning?” “Dylan has such great energy, great desire,” Dell said. “He moves water … incredible amounts of water. And he moves water in a smooth way. His walls, they’re also strong, incredibly strong.” Notable: Scouts junior Alex Streightiff topped a highly competitive field of 45 divers at the New Trier Invitational on Jan. 10. He amassed 505.55 points. Loyola Academy sophomore Chris Canning — fourth at state last winter — earned runner-up honors with a 494.15-point effort. Lake Forest junior John-Michael Diveris finished sixth (444.15). … Smith pulled his way to runnerup honors in the 100 backstroke (53.59) at the Evanston Invite last weekend. Smith also collaborated with Boyd, LeMay and Ooms on those runner-up relays (200 free, 400 free). Ooms sped to second-place in the 50 free (21.7), a time that would have been fast enough for 10th-place points at the state meet last winter. ■
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were Maggie Palmer (10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals), Colleen Palmer (11 rebounds) and Jahns (7 points, 6 steals). In other recent action, the Panthers dropped a 38-30 decision to Resurrection on Jan. 6. Degnan had eight points and three steals. Maggie Palmer finished with six points, while Jahns had four points and eight rebounds.
Poolside
Boys Swimming
At Elk Grove Invite: Highland Park High School’s swim team took first place in 14 of the 32 events at the “Fast, Faster and Fastest” Elk Grove Invite on Jan. 10. The Giants ended up winning the eightteam meet with 375 points. Cary-Grove was the runner-up with 344 points. Junior Allen Tran had a big day for the Giants. He had the “Fastest” times in the 200 IM (2:02.57) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.42). He also was a part of two winning “Fastest” relays: 200 medley (2:02.57) and 400 free (3:23.62). Tran teamed up with Alex Grigorovich, Levy Nathan and Eddie Kochman in the 400 relay. Tran’s swim mates in the 200 medley were Nathan, Kochman and Hugh Laedlein. Grigorovich also fared well in a pair of “Faster” events, taking first in the 200 free (1:52.34) and 100 free (51.38). Other individual winners for HP included Jack Burson in the “Faster” 200 IM (2:17.86), Samuel Dotson in the “Faster” 100 breaststroke (1:07.48), Joey Levy in the “Fast” 200 free (2:02.41), Adam Grobelny in the “Fast” 100 butterfly (1:06.97), Mark Fox in the “Fast”
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100 backstroke (1:09.08) and JJ Fradin in the “Fast” 100 breaststroke (1:11.64). HP also won a pair of “Faster” relays. Fox, Dotson, Levy and Burson were clocked in 1:50.08 in the 200 medley, while Levy, Dotson, Grobelny and Fradin finished the 400 relay in 3:54.14. Highland Park also claimed a 10383 dual-meet victory over Deerfield on Jan. 9. HP’s individual winners were Tran in the 500 free (5:02.83) and 100 breast (1:02.07); Grigorovich in the 200 free (1:56.47) and 100 free (51.29); Nathan in the 200 IM (2:08.24) and Kochman in the 50 free (23.78). The Giants went 3-for-3 in the relays. The 200 medley, which was clocked in 1:44.64, featured Laedlein, Tran, Burson and Grigorovich. The foursome of Nathan, Burson, Fradin and Kochman claimed the 200 free in 1:35.35. And Grigorovich, Levy, Fradin and Tran teamed up in the 400 free (3:35.76). Dance Competition
Lake Forest: Plenty went right for the school’s varsity blue dance team last weekend. On Jan. 10, Lake Forest competed in the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Chicagoland Dance Competition at the University of Illinois-Chicago and took first place in the pom division and third in the jazz division. Then, on Jan. 11, the squad took first in the overall dance category at the Deerfield Invite. LF will compete in the conference meet at Stevenson on Jan. 17. Then, at the end of the month, the Scouts will try to defend their national title in Florida. ■
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