By Fred Kroner
Juniors Aron Varga and Owen Kearns broke school records on Saturday (Dec. 17) to highlight the performance of Mahomet-Seymour swimmers in the boys’ Raider Invitational at Bloomington.
Varga lowered his own 2021 record (of 2 minutes 7.79 seconds) by winning the 200-yard individual medley in the 17-school meet with a time of 2:06.01.
Kearns placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle but took down a record which had stood for 12 years. Kearns’ time was 1:54.99. The previous mark, set by Joel Luedtke in 2010, was 1:57.34.
Varga lowered his season’s best in the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:04.50 which placed him in third.
Kearns was also a placer in the 100-yard butterfly, taking eighth in 58.21 seconds.
Another double individual placer for M-S was Emmett Kearns. He was fifth in the 500-yard freestyle (5:45.00) and sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:14.26). He recorded his top times of the season in each event.
Two Bulldog relays also earned points.
The 200-yard medley relay foursome of Aaron Smith, Varga, Owen Kearns and Emmett Kearns finished sixth in 1:51.07.
The same four swimmers teamed up for a seventh-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:40.23).
Other Bulldogs who registered their top times of the season were Ethan Whitaker (200-yard freestyle), Kameron Bartels (200-yard individual medley), Matthew Kirby (500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke), Jeremiah Pryor (100-yard freestyle) and Smith (100-yard backstroke).
“We continue to show great improvement and progress,” M-S coach Erich O’Donnell said. “The boys are learning from each other and from the meets they are swimming in. It’s been fun to be a part of it.”
M-S (3-1) will return to action on Thursday (Jan. 5, 2023) at Normal against University High and Pekin.
