By Randy Whalen

The numbers are small, but the effort is big.

The Joliet Township boys' swimming team has only 11 members this season. The lack of depth makes it harder to score in competitive meets. But the effort is there.

"We only have 11 guys on the team," Joliet coach Nick Koenig said. "It's a small team, and we're just trying to get them faster from where they came in, and we have."

Some of that progress was shown recently when Joliet traveled to Lockport Township on Saturday, January 24, to participate in the Steve Allen Invitational. There, the team scored 41 points.

Vaughn Craven, one of three seniors on the team, led the way. He placed eighth out of 31 swimmers in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute: 54.10 seconds. That was less than two seconds out of a Top 5 finish.

Craven also placed eighth out of 31 swimmers in the 500-yard freestyle. He turned in a time of 5:11.09, which was just 3.33 seconds out of tying for fourth place. 

"I've been on the varsity all four years, and I love it," Craven said. "The team dynamic has changed a lot in the four years. Not in a good way, or a bad way. It's just that we have different guys in different spots."

This season hasn't been easy for Craven, who missed the start of it with mono.

"I still went to every practice," he said. "I got back in the water in mid-December. I enjoy the distance events because if you make a mistake, you can make up for it.

"The season is now going well. As a senior, I've dropped time, and I like to be a leader and get everyone going."

Also scoring points at the invite for Joliet was the 200-yard freestyle relay team of senior Marco Rodriguez, sophomore Ben Jensen, junior Alex Brtva, and Craven. They placed 15th with a time of 1:43.82, missing making the Top 10 by just over four seconds. 

The same foursome was in the same order and narrowly missed a Top 10 finish in the 400-yard freestyle. There, they scored 12 points and placed 11th with a time of 3:43.95. That was 2.5 seconds out of tying for 10th. Jensen also garnered points by finishing 14th with a time of 2:17.42 in the 200-yard individual medley.

The Joliet 200-yard medley relay consisted of freshman Esteban Garcia, along with juniors Emiliano Mendoza, Wyatt Gottner, and Luke Benefield. Joe O'Brien is the third senior on the team.

Three days later, on Tuesday, January 27, Joliet was back at Lockport for a triangular meet, which also had the Valley View Warriors co-op team, which combines Bolingbrook and Romeoville.

Lockport won 10 of the 12 varsity events in finishing with 158 points. Joliet had 95 points, and Valley View, which won a pair of events, finished with 58 points. 

The most competitive race of the day was the 500-yard freestyle. There, Lockport junior Colin Santiago won with a time of 5:18.80, but Craven was less than a second behind at 5:19.58, and Jensen had a time of 5:24.94, to finish third by over a minute.

"Ben did great in the 500," Craven said. "I love swimming at Lockport. They have some great swimmers, and Rocco (Lockport junior Rocco Ciaccia, who placed second in the 500 at the Steve Allen Invite) was talking to me. They have super nice kids, and we will see them in the sectional."

The Southwest Prairie Conference meet will be held on Saturday, February 7, at Oswego East. Joliet will be at the Sandburg Sectional, which will be held on Saturday, February 21.

"Ben Jensen has been a bright spot for us," Koenig said. "We're just working on speed and technique and getting the most out of the guys."