High school boys swimming: Hinsdale Central finishes second in state

WINNETKA – Even by the high standards of Hinsdale Central’s boys swimming program, the career of Franco Reyes stands out.

Reyes capped a four-year stint of excellence by winning four more medals, including two golds, at the state finals at New Trier on Feb. 25.

Those finishes gave Reyes the maximum 16 medals for his career.

He also was a huge reason why the Red Devils won trophies in the last four seasons.

Did Reyes foresee the level of personal success?

“Definitely not,” he said. “I didn’t really expect much when I was a freshman, but as the years go on you get more experience and get faster from training harder.

“Here I am now. It was a great high school experience.”

The Georgia State-bound Reyes has a prominent place in the state and school record books.

Reyes won his third straight state championship in the 100-yard butterfly, timing 48.29 seconds to beat Hersey junior Michael Petro by .65, and was second in the 50 freestyle in a personal-best 20.49, just .05 behind Stevenson sophomore Topher Stensby.

Reyes is just the second swimmer to win three straight titles in the butterfly, joining Rock Island’s Marc Gilliam, who won three from 1967-69.

Reyes is just the fifth Hinsdale Central swimmer to win an event three consecutive years. Brian Gunn (500 freestyle), Danny Thomson (500 freestyle), John Murphy (100 backstroke) and George Tidmarsh (200 individual medley) are the others.

It was a career that began with high expectations. Reyes had competed internationally for Panama before arriving at Hinsdale Central.

“High expectations are always a lot of pressure, but you’ve just got to learn to deal with it,” Reyes said. “As a freshman, I was totally nervous, and now it’s not much to deal with. You’ve just got to race and do your best with your teammates.”

Reyes did that well, helping the Red Devils win the state title in 2015. They were third last year and second this season behind Lyons Township, which won its second straight title.

Reyes teamed with senior William Bowater, sophomore Donovan Lahmann and junior Cole Grosshans to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:22.89.

The 200 medley quartet of sophomore Francis Morrissey, sophomore Trystan Lundgren, Reyes and Grosshans was second, and the 400 freestyle squad of Grosshans, Bowater, Lahmann and freshman Cullen Cochlan was fifth.

Lahmann was fourth in the 200 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle, while Lundgren took fifth in the 100 breaststroke and Grosshans placed seventh in the 50 freestyle.

“It’s been awesome,” Reyes said. “The kids, the coaches, everything has been a great experience for me and that’s what helped support me and helped me train through everything. That’s got me to what I am today.”

Downers Grove North

As a junior, Ryan Murphy became only the third diver in Downers Grove North program history to earn a state medal when he finished eighth.

As a senior, he added his own page to the school record book. Murphy finished 11th with 447.15 points to become the first Trojan to win two diving medals at state.

“I’m pretty proud of it,” Murphy said. “I was actually pretty surprised about it. I barely snuck in [the finals] by the skin of my teeth.”

The UIC recruit grabbed the 12th and final qualifying spot during the Feb. 24 prelims. He was happy just to make it after gashing his foot during a dual meet this season.

“It went pretty well considering the rest of my season,” Murphy said. “I was out for three weeks with a big foot injury. I pushed through it.”

Junior Ben Ellstrom was a state qualifier in the 100-yard backstroke, where he placed 30th in the prelims with a time of 53.30 seconds.

Adan Calleja scored 177.4 points in the diving prelims and placed 33rd.

---

Team scores

1. Lyons Township, 156.5 points

2. Hinsdale Central, 142

3. New Trier, 120