MAKING A BIG SPLASH
York swimmers and divers win first sectional in program history
Elmhurst’s boys swimming and diving team could be on the cusp of something big.
For the first time in program history, the Dukes won a sectional title on February 22 as they captured the Downers Grove North Sectional.
By the slimmest of margins.
York had 231 points, and Glenbard was right behind with 230.5, and the Dukes held their first go-crazy moment for a postseason as everyone hit the pool.
First-year coach Josh Dunn, who was an assistant for three years, said he put the idea of a sectional title in the swimmers’ minds from day one.
“It takes a while to get better in swimming. But I love to see the times drop, and I love to see the improvement.”
— MATTHEW GLOD
It came through as they narrowly beat Glenbard West.
“Glenbard West absolutely crushed us in a dual meet,” Dunn said. “At that time, it didn’t give me many high hopes for sectionals. They also beat us at the conference meet, and I think the boys had enough of getting beat by Glenbard West, and they put out their best effort to get us a win. When it was over, those boys were over the moon. To be able to make history by the slimmest margin, it was surreal.”
The Dukes were sectional champs in two of the three relays.
Freshman Dymtro Rozdolskyy, senior Timothy Jensen, sophomore Matthew Glod, and senior Henry Nelson won the 200 medley relay with a 1:36.23.
Nelson, Rozdolskyy, Glod, and Jensen won the 200 free relay with a 1:26.94.
York sophomore Matthew Glod swims the 100 butterfly in the IHSA state meet on March 1 in Westmont.
Photo by Jeff Vorva
Glod earned a sectional title in the 100 butterfly with a :49.83 and Jensen won the 100 breaststroke with a :57.68.
Jensen also qualified for the state meet in the 50 free with a second-place finish of :21.64.
Sophomore Connor MacLeod took second in the diving event to qualify for the state meet. MacLeod racked up a 424.05 score.
At the Illinois High School Association state meet February 28 at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, Jensen had two heartbreaking races in the preliminaries.
Jensen just missed qualifying for the top 16 as he placed 17th in the 50 free with a :21.20. Fremd’s Tyler Franke nabbed the final spot with a :21.16.
He also finished 17th in the 100 breaststroke with a :57.37.
Stevenson’s Joshua Wang took the 16th spot with a :57.31.
Matthew Glod of York was the team’s lone medalist in the IHSA state meet, finishing 16th.
Photo by Jeff Vorva
But Glod was able to qualify for the second day, and he finished 16th in the 100 butterfly with a :50.34. He was 15th in the preliminaries with a :50.16.
“He’s done some incredible things,” Dunn said of Glod. “He’s an athlete that definitely responds well to high expectations and coaches pushing him and encouraging him that he can be faster. It’s always really fun to see him rise to the challenge.
“For him to qualify for Saturday and to see the times he put up this season was a little bit of a surprise, but it was definitely a great surprise.”
Glod did a lot of cheering on February 28.
He had friends all over that he wanted to see do well.
As a result of success in sectional competition the week before, the Dukes had swimmers in six events at state, so Glod was pretty busy competing and cheering on his teammates.
But he is also a member of the Hinsdale Swim Club during the offseason. He was cheering on some of those teammates as well, including the 200-yard medley relay team of Luke Vatev, Josh Bey, Henry Guo, and Matthew Vatev, kicking off the state meet by setting a national record of 1 minute, 26.75 seconds.
“Yes, I was cheering for them,” Glod said. “I’m friends with those guys, and they are so good. What they did was so crazy.”
Could York ever get to that level? That’s a long shot, but Dunn and Glod want to see more swimmers in the second round of the state meet.
Glod has been swimming since he was six and loves the sport.
“I love seeing myself improve continuously,” he said. “It takes a while to get better in swimming. But I love to see the times drop, and I love to see the improvement.”
