Swimmers Send 7 Individuals, 3 Relays To State

The actual severity of the concussion suffered by Evanston’s Mo Frischer about a month ago in diving practice probably depends on who you ask.

Frischer himself would say it was minor.

ETHS coaches and trainers might not play it down so much.

But all would agree that Frischer’s comeback --- after three weeks out of the water --- was nothing short of remarkable Saturday.

The Wildkit senior scored a career-high 417.80 points at the Niles North Sectional meet and secured an at-large berth for the Illinois High School Association state finals set for Friday and Saturday at FMC Natatorium in Westmont.

Evanston advanced 7 individual qualifiers and 3 relay teams, all of them at-large. Sectional champions in each event automatically advanced along with those who matched or beat established qualifying times.

Evanston placed 4th with 204 points in a hotly-contested team race that went right down to the final race of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Glenbrook South ruled with 228 points to 225 for Maine South and 209 for Loyola Academy in the 12-team field.

Frischer probably wasn’t the least likely qualifier in a talented group of Kit swimmers that included Lucas Macy (500 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Jonas Nissan (500 freestyle), Max Taufen (50 freestyle), Cadel Saszik (100 backstroke) and Evan Lindner (100 freestyle). But based on his forced inactivity leading up to the postseason, and a disastrous showing at the Central Suburban League South division championship meet the previous weekend, his chances to keep his season alive seemed to rank between slim and none.

But the irrepressible senior beat the odds and put it all together with the season on the line.

“He got off to a good start this year, so it’s not like he came out of the blue or anything like that,” said ETHS diving coach Aaron Melnick. “But I have to tell you that when he got the concussion, I went from thinking about what kind of place in the top 16 (at State) can he find --- to we’re not going.

“We worked the last two weeks to set up for today. But he was horrible at Maine South (in his first meet back) and at the conference meet (10th place) and I just felt like it wasn’t gonna happen for him. But he really found himself today.”

“Coming back was so difficult,” said Frischer, noting that a concussion would adversely affect any diver who has to focus on his body’s spatial relationship to the board and the water while in mid-air. “It was so unfortunate when it happened. But it did give me a break and let me get really excited for when I could finally come back.

“At the beginning of the season I was really feeling strong. I was feeling the board well and getting good height on my jumps, and that enabled me to think of my dives in a more complete way. That extra strength and height I got from last year to this year really helped. Coming back after the concussion, I was more than a little frustrated. It just wasn’t there for me. But after a couple of practices, I started remembering just why I do this sport, because I love it.

“I did terrible at the CSL meet. That was a really poor meet for me. I didn’t figure I was a long shot (to make it to State), but I knew nothing was guaranteed, either. I felt like I hit more dives than I missed today.”

Frischer clinched a spot at State on his second to last dive, a reverse one and one-half somersault pike that earned scores of 7s from the meet judges and put a smile on Melnick’s face.

“He only had two dives today where there weren’t minimum scores of 6s and he got the job done,” the coach said. “He scored 52 points on that reverse, and his front one and one half was the best I’ve ever seen him throw today.”

That momentum carried over for the swimmers, who rose to the occasion in almost every race, according to head coach Kevin Auger.

“We don’t have any superstars on this team, but we just kept performing time after time after time,” declared the veteran coach. “Usually there are ebbs and flows to a meet like this, because it’s the pinnacle for a lot of kids. Our kids came together as a team, trained hard as a team, and had success --- as a team. We kept doing best times after best times --- and that was fun.”

Macy, a senior, fell short in his bid to capture a rare third straight sectional event championship in the 500 freestyle relay. His time of 4 minutes, 43.50 seconds was fast enough to earn fourth in a race won by Glenbrook South’s Henry Chen in 4:37.73. Nissan was fifth in the same race in 4:46.18, also under the state cut of 4:46.31.

Macy advanced in the 100 fly for the first time by placing fifth in 51.39.

“What happened in the 500 is that I went too fast, too early,” Macy said. “But I’ll go faster next week. I always drop 10 seconds when I taper and that means I can go after the school record.”

Saszik, also a senior, earned a return trip to State after claiming fourth in the backstroke in 51.89. Lindner (fifth in the 100 free in 47.45) and Taufen (seventh in the 50 free in 21.75) will get the opportunity to compete in individual events and in the relays.

Evanston’s three relay teams ranked in the top 20 in Illinois all season and had no trouble qualifying Saturday. The 200 medley unit of Saszik, Macy, Taufen and Harry Winefield was clocked in 1:35.23, good for fourth place, and the third place 200 freestyle relay featured Lindner, Taufen, Hunter Kleinschmitt and Isaac Peng. They hit the wall in 1:25.52.

In the 400 freestyle relay, the quartet of Taufen, Lindner, Saszik and Henry Chapon beat the clock with a fourth place effort of 3:09.78, a season best by five seconds.