On Saturday, February 22, Normal West competed at Pekin High School in the IHSA Sectional meet. West finished second behind rival U-High by 53 points, but that meet will be behind both teams as they head into state, both sending five total swimmers.

Five West swimmers qualified for state last Saturday: Justin DeDianous, Tyler DeDianous, Kyle Kiper, Andrew Loy, and Austin Hartke. The five of them will swim a total of 15 events while also sending 2 relays, both of which are ranked top five in the state.

Justin DeDianous is ranked fifth in the state in the 100 fly and ranked in the top 20 in the 200 free. “It’s a great way to end my senior year”, said DeDianous.   “The whole team has worked as hard as they could this whole year and we all deserve this.”  Justin is also on both of the state relays.

Both Justin and Tyler are seniors while Kyle Kiper is a junior and both Loy and Hartke are sophomores.  It will be the first trip to the finals for all five swimmers.

“This is more than we could have asked for this season,” said head coach Becky McGrew. “It has been and honor to coach these swimmers this season. They are more than ready for the lights.”

In sectionals, West managed to beat U-High in events won, but lost in total points. Both West and U-High are ranked in the top 5 in the state going into the state meet, West at 5^th and U-High at first. Those numbers won’t matter once those swimmers take to the blocks.

“Throughout my four years at West it has been a goal to make it to finals at state,” said Tyler DeDianous. “ It just makes it that much more special if we beat our rival U-High in the process.”

The state meet starts on Friday at 1 pm and finals are on Saturday.