This past Saturday, February 17th, the Whitney Young Boys Swim Team competed in sectionals at the UIC Natatorium. After coming in first place at their city championship, the boys were coming right off of a win. The natatorium was packed with spectators who cheered for their school’s swimmers, and an overwhelming amount of support from the family members and friends of the Young team included our principal, Dr. Kenner.

The meet opened with the divers, where Conal Abatangelo (’18) placed 3rd and Xander Struyk (’19) placed 6th. The swimmers then competed against high schools from all over the Chicago area, including Saint Ignatius College Prep, The Latin School of Chicago, Jones/Payton, University High School, and many others. The following swimmers qualified for state championships: Julian Green (’19), Dan Rusca (’18) Alex Stensland (’18), and Tristan Stevens (’20) in the 200 Medley Relay; Tadzio Kurka (’19) and Bence Szabados (’20) in the 200 Freestyle; Connor Carr (’18) in the 50 freestyle; Alex Stensland (’18) in the 100 Butterfly; Connor Carr (’18), Alex Stensland (’18), Tristan Stevens (’20), and Bence Szabados (’20) in the 200 Freestyle Relay; Tadzio Kurka (’19) in the 100 Backstroke.

We wish all of the boys good luck at their state championship and give a congratulations to all the boys who swam phenomenally at city championships this past weekend. Zaddeen Benaissa (’18), who swam a personal record in his event at the meet, had this to say after the race, “We had a great meet, and I’m excited to see everyone go even faster this weekend.”. From the diving team, Xander Struyk (’17) added, “This season has been a lot of hard work, and I’m glad to see it paid off.” Come support the team at Evanston Township High School for the state championships this Saturday at 1 pm!

Photo at sectionals, courtesy of Erin Choi (’18)