Alden matches pentathlon points mark

AURORA -- Saturday's Waubonsie Valley Aqua Pentathlon saw a number of swimmers come up big.

Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie finished first and second, and the Wildcats' Brian Alden tied the meet record of 4,797 points. Also, Warriors freshman Tyler Hunt finished 17th in filling in for the flu-ridden Gabe Baginski.

Alden swam the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 42.06 seconds to narrowly miss setting the meet's individual points record, set in 2000 by Champaign Central's Dan Trupin.

Unlike most meets, for the pentathlon each swimmer takes to the pool in all five meet events: the 200 and 50 freestyles, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

"I would have liked to have broken it," Alden said of the individual record. "Trupin is probably the best ever to swim in Illinois."

Hunt swam the 200 freestyle in 1:54.73 and looked solid in all five events.

"Tyler Hunt stepped in as a scorer," Waubonsie coach Chad Ganden said. "He's got a great future, especially in the (individual medley)."

Neuqua coach Chad Allen was all smiles after the Wildcats' win.

"(The top individual score) is just one of the best records out there for an invite meet record," he said, alluding to Alden's accomplishment. "His goal was to break the record."

Allen praised his team, Brien Gerber in particular.

"Gerber's been our man in pentathlons," Allen said. "We had one earlier in the week (at Homewood-Flossmoor), and he did well there, too."

The sophomore earned sixth place with 4,232 points.

Waubonsie's Jack Poletto finished fourth (4,270).

"It all comes down to practicing hard every day. If you don't, you won't have the strength to do this. You have to be able to sprint every day in practice and in meets, too."