Mahomet-Seymour wins Illini Prairie Conference Invitational

By Fred Kroner

Aron Varga won the 200-yard individual medley on Saturday (Feb. 5), helping Mahomet-Seymour win team honors in the seven-school Illini Prairie Conference Invitational at Stanford Olympia.

His time was 2 minutes, 12.04 seconds.

The Bulldogs amassed 265 points and edged Bloomington Central Catholic (260). Trailing the two leaders were Pontiac (197), Charleston (130), Petersburg Porta (101), St. Thomas More (73) and Olympia (73).

Varga was also the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.34).

Teammates Owen Kearns and Mitch McAnally snatched a pair of second-place finishes while Max Katz ended in second in his specialty (362.80 points).

Kearns was the runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle (5:37.68) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.18). McAnally was second in the 50-yard freestyle (23.78 seconds)and the 100-yard freestyle (54.70 seconds).

Carter Logsdon swam to third-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (2:09.66) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:06.10).

Other M-S athletes who placed among the top nine in individual events were Mark Guttierez (sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke), Aaron Smith (seventh in the 100-yard backstroke and ninth in the 50-yard freestyle), Jerry Pryor (seventh in the 500-yard freestyle) and Ethan Whitaker (ninth in the 200-yard freestyle).

The M-S 400-yard freestyle entry of Katz, Kearney, Logsdon and Varga was triumphant in 3:52.77.

Placing second were the Bulldogs’ 200-yard medley relay (1:51.28) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:41.95). Katz, Kearns, McAnally and Varga joined forces in the medley relay.

The meet was the final regular-season tune-up for M-S, which will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 19) in the 30-school Champaign Central Sectional at Centennial High School.