The stands of the Niles West swimming pool looked dismal, as if the Wolves fans, as well as the New Trier Trevian fans, knew the outcome of the meet before it had even started. Although the Niles West section of the stands never ceased to cheer on the boys, it was clear that they knew the Wolves weren’t going to win this time. The boys tried their hardest, but in the end the Trevians won the meet on all levels  (Varsity 146 to 40), (JV 125-51), (Freshmen 123-42).

The varsity boys placed fourth and fifth in the 200-medley relay with times of 1:46.03 and 1:54.97, respectively. Junior Drake Nickell placed third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.46 and also placed third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.17. Additionally, senior Ryan Miller placed second in the varsity 500 freestyle with a time of 5:01.42.

The meet went on as usual until the break for diving, when the magic started happening. Senior Jordan Sacks, one of the Trevian divers, stepped onto the diving board and completely blew away the judges, not to mention everyone else, during the diving portion of the meet. Sacks consistently scored 6s, 7s, and many 8s, which is a rarity in itself. Sacks even scored 8s all around on his second-to-last dive of the night and ended up breaking the pool record with a score of 303.75.

Even though the boys knew who they were up against, they still swam hard and put in a valiant effort.

Toward the end of the meet, senior Patrick Melnick joked, “The Niles West boys swim team went against New Trier last Friday. End of story.”

When asked about how he feels the boys will do this Friday against Waukegan, head coach Dan VanderJeugdt said, “They’ll do very well. It’s senior night, so we’re going to let the seniors swim what they want. It’s not going to affect the meet at all. We also have a few swimmers close to state cuts: seniors Ryan Miller in the 100 butterfly, Nick Giffen in the 100 breaststroke, Stephen Giddens in the 50 freestyle, as well as the 200-medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.”

The Niles West boys swim team takes on Waukegan at home this Friday, Feb. 3  for their Senior Night meet at 5:30 p.m.