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Schools

Freshman Swimmer Harrington Makes a Splash on Varsity Team

Libertyville High School freshman Matt Harrington makes it on varsity team. It's sectional time for bowling and Libertyville and Carmel meet in hoops

freshman Matt Harrington gets it. He understands how cool it is to be a freshman swimming on a varsity team.

"It seems kind of surreal,'' Harrington said. "When I tell people I'm on varsity as a freshman the expressions on their faces are priceless."

Libertyville swimming got a boost when the Harrington family moved to Libertyville from Wisconsin. Harrington moved here in the fifth grade.

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"It was really hard to move,'' Harrington said. "I went from a school that had 50 kids a grade to 150 a grade. It was a big culture shock."

He's adjusted quite well. And now he's a big fan of Libertyville.

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"It's going wonderfully,'' he said. "I love high school swimming. The team camaraderie is new to me. I can now lean on my teammates."

He's also fond of his new teammates.

"I have never met such singular awesome people than I have met here in Libertyville."

The move-in swims most of the sprint events.

"Anything but breaststroke,'' he said. "I can swim it. It's just that I'm not good at it."

Recap: The Wildcats fell to a strong Stevenson squad last Thursday 128-57. There was some good news in the 200 IM. Alex Snarski took top honors in this race (2:00.34). Harrington was in the mix in third place (2:07.18).

Harrington and Snarski combined with sophomore Atticus Rush and freshman Justin Fu to finish a close second in the 200 free relay (1:30.06). This foursome also was second in the 400 free relay (3:17.64).

Also placing second in this meet were Fu in the 100 free (49.70) and Rush in the 100 butterfly (54.94).

Boys Bowling: The sectional for boys bowling is upon us this weekend. The good news for this team is the sectional will be rolled on the Wildcats' home lanes at Lakeside.

On Tuesday, Jan 17, Libertyville ran into a wall named Stevenson. The Patriots had two bowlers roll 279 games on the way to a 3,173 to 2,652 victory over the Wildcats. Leading the charge for Libertyville was Jake Thompson. He had three games in the 200s and finished with a 636 series. Sam Schmidt was next with a 522 series. Tanner Collin (493) and Sam Schmidt (492) also helped out. Jack Baumruk rolled a 192 game.

Last Thursday, the Cats edged New Trier 2,768 to 2,732. Sam Schmidt closed with a 206 game for his 592 series. Thompson (581) finished with a 205 game.

Baumruk (523) had a 212 game. Max Schmidt helped with a 526 series.

Girls Bowling: Officially, it was a 16-pin victory for Libertyville on Wednesday night. In the meantime, this Wildcats team knocked off unbeaten Wauconda 2,323-2,307.

Leading the varsity to this victory were Sue Vachula with a 514 series and sophomore Natalie Zeng, who shot a 494 series.

Also impressive on this night was the JV team that even out-rolled the varsity with a 2,402 series. Ashley Babetch led this team with a 602 series. Also helping this team were Jenna Beadle (193 game) and Donya Buglio (199 game).

"It was a great night on the lanes,'' said Libertyville coach Lindsey Siegel.

Boys Basketball: The Carmel team almost could walk over to this game on Saturday night. Neighbor Carmel, and its veteran coach Tim Bowen, are coming to Libertyville for a nonconference matchup at 7:30 p.m.

The Wildcats need a win after Tuesday night’s 61-45 loss to Lake Forest.

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