Christopher Kearney finally cleared the hurdle.
After swimming in the consolation finals of the 100-yard freestyle the past two seasons, the Loyola senior got himself into the top six at this year’s state meet at Evanston.
His personal-best 45.91 seconds on Friday, Feb. 26, was good for fifth in the preliminaries. Kearney held that position in the final on Saturday, Feb. 27, clocking a time of 46.25. It was the seventh medal of his career.
“I did it,” said Kearney, who lives in Deerfield. “That felt good. [Saturday] was my last swim for Loyola, so I wanted to have fun with it. I had no time or place in my mind.”
Loyola coach Mike Hengelmann said Kearney’s improvement in the event can be traced to his increased stroke rate. Simply put, Kearney is moving his arms faster than in previous seasons.
“He’s a big, strong dude,” Hengelmann said of the 6-foot-4 Kearney. “He’s been able to use his strength to get more speed.”
Kearney echoed Hengelmann’s assessment.
“I didn’t change my technique or anything like that,” he said. “I just got stronger, and that helped me with my tempo.”
The Miami (Ohio)-bound Kearney also took third place in the 200 free (1:41.03) to match his performance in the event from last season.
Junior Chris Canning took second in diving with 468.15 points. Hononegah senior Payton Staman was the state champion with 475.05. Canning was fourth after the prelims and third after the semifinals.
The state medal was Canning’s third in three years. He placed third as a sophomore and fourth as a freshman.
Twitter: @harnesspreps