Not many people thought St. Charles North could successfully defend its state title following the graduation of double state champion Will Myhre.
Even the North Stars had their doubts, including senior Srboljub Filipovic.
“To be bluntly honest, I wasn’t really sure that we could win again,” Filipovic said. “We lost Will, but then later on in the season, we were pushing and pushing and going faster and faster.
“We all developed and were swimming hard. I knew we had another championship in our hearts.”
He was right. The North Stars earned back-to-back titles in dramatic fashion, scoring 137 points Saturday in the state meet at Evanston, two points more than Loyola and nine clear of Glenbrook South.
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All three teams had a shot at the championship going into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. St. Charles North stood to win unless Loyola won the race and the North Stars finished sixth.
Loyola did win, but Filipovic anchored seniors Ricky Williams and Nate Baxter and junior Daniel Kowaleski to fifth place, beating Waubonsie Valley anchor Brian Knothe to the finish by 1.08 seconds for the winning margin.
“I just tried to get my butt to that wall,” Filipovic said. “That’s all I had to do. As soon as I finished, my God, I went out in tears. It was my last swim meet ever, last high school state meet ever.
“I’m going to miss all these guys that I grew up with, especially my seniors. I’ve grown up with them ever since I was 7 or 8 years old.”
Williams and Baxter each won two medals in individual event. Filipovic, who will play water polo at Air Force, took fourth in the 200 individual medley in addition to swimming on all three medal-winning relays. Senior Joey Scimeca took third in diving.
But the biggest individual star was Filipovic’s brother Aleksej, a sophomore who won the 100 butterfly in 48.25 and finished second in the 50 free in 20.48.
“It’s awesome,” Aleksej Filipovic said. “The 50 free we didn’t even know was an event for me. At midseason I swam it and had some great times. That’s when we started thinking, ‘OK, 50 free could be something.’
“I got second, but I just came back in (the butterfly) and I really wanted to win it. This is my event and I came and won it.”
The butterfly is Aleksej Filipovic’s event now, but at the beginning of the season it was the 200 IM. He switched events so the North Stars could maximize their team points.
“Alek gave up his best race and gave it to his brother, and that was a big play,” St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. “He did that so we could maneuver the lineup around the right way.
“That says a lot about how he functions as a sophomore and does what is best for the team.”
Aleksej Filipovic said he is proud of his older brother and enjoyed seeing him succeed in his final season of swimming.
But Srboljub Filipovic is equally in awe of Aleksej, pointing to him when asked how North won without Myhre.
“My brother is an absolutely monster,” Srboljub said. “He’s one that always helps us out so much.
“And Rooney worked us like dogs. We would always look glum, but at the end we, always knew it was for one purpose and one purpose only.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.