After two weeks of “grueling practices,” the Fenwick swim team opened its season with two meets side-by-side last weekend.
The Friars finished second to Evanston on Friday with 73 points, and took third at the Stevenson Patriot Relays on Saturday with 250 points.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jack Ryden, Mark Melnyk, Tom Parolin, and Dan Wolak geared up for the Patriot Relays by taking first against Evanston with a time of 1:31.94.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Luke Baldwin, John Barrett, Pat Lloyd and Mike Brown finished in 1:42.44, good for second against a strong Evanston squad.
The Friars came out splashing at Stevenson. Baldwin, Rich Butler, Lloyd and Brown took first in the 400-yard medley with a time of 3:53.23.
Barrett, Baldwin, Parolin, and Wolak also took first at Stevenson, winning the 100-yard medley in 3:59.40.
Lloyd, Butler, Brown and Jack Ryden took first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:32.54. Brown also placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of :23.13.
“It was a great start after two weeks of grueling practices,” said Fenwick head coach Dave Perry.
The Friars host both Sandburg and Latin on Friday, and then travel to the Barrington Invitational on Saturday.
OPRF falls to HC
Oak Park and River Forest’s second West Suburban (Silver) Conference game on the year didn’t go as well as the team’s first conference game, a 67-61 win over Proviso West on Nov. 30.
The Huskies (6-1, 1-1) weren’t able to celebrate their win for very long with 17th-ranked Hinsdale Central visiting on Friday night. The Red Devils played havoc on OPRF’s defense and handed the Huskies a 56-33 loss.
‘Things just got ugly in the second half,” said OPRF head coach Adrian Newell of Hinsdale Central’s shooting accuracy.
Newell tried to throw all kinds of defenses at the Red Devils, but to no avail.
“When you’ve got great shooters it’s very difficult to defend no matter what you do,” she said.
The Huskies didn’t help matters. Fourteen of Hinsdale Central’s 19 points in the fourth quarter came at the free-throw line.
Brittany Marshall, who had an outstanding game against Proviso West, scoring 30 points, and Ashleen Bracey led the Huskies with 14 points apiece.
Bracey turned out 21 points in the win over Proviso West, while Jonay Foster added 10 for the Huskies.
“The strategy is not to dwell too much on a loss,” said Newell. “I know the team was disappointed in the way they played, but now they need to go back out there and make up for it.”
The Huskies will host Glenbard West on Friday, and travel to Lyons on Saturday (2:30 p.m.).
Friars take third
For the second year a row on Saturday, the Fenwick wrestling team finished third at the Hinsdale South tournament, a mark that sits just fine with head coach Jerry Ruffino, who is still in the midst of getting his team?#34;made up mostly of football players?#34;into wrestling shape.
“Third place is success for us this early in the season,” said Ruffino. “We’ve still got some training to do.”
The Friars were led by Eric Gough and Carmen Curio. Gough won his first regular season championship in the 152-pound weight class, while Curio, who tips the scale at 217, took first place in the heavyweight division.
Other top finishers for Fenwick included: Nick Bertucci (140), Zack Stafford (112), and Bill Barnhisal (171).
“This team is made up predominantly of football players and they aren’t quite [in wrestling shape] yet, but that’s okay. They’ll get there,” said Ruffino.
contact: bspencer@wjinc.com
