Making an in-Dell-ible mark Scouts impress coach, come up with a stunning sectional title

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Colin Rowe of the Scouts celebrates at the sectional. He took second in the 100 free and third in the 50 free. | Joe Cyganowski ~ For Sun Times Media

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Updated: March 24, 2012 8:54AM

Cindy Dell limped noticeably on Saturday.

Lake Forest High School’s boys swim coach had injured a knee while working out earlier in the week.

The timing of the injury was lousy; she had to run … a sectional meet.

But Dell put on a brave face – she mastered the art, all afternoon, of masking her winces with smiles – and did what she had to do.

What had to be the most soothing salve in the world, when the meet ended: a result.

Her Scouts had edged Warren’s mighty Blue Devils 277.5-276 for the sectional championship and qualified 11 entrants to this weekend’s state meet at Evanston.

“Unbelievable, incredible … I’m amazed and so proud,” said Dell of her program’s second sectional title in three years. “We talked this morning, and the thing we wanted them to do was race the way they practice.

“The boys practice hard,” she added.

Need proof?

Take a look at the Scouts’ 2011-12 motto. It’s on a Pirate flag, which has been residing in LF’s natatorium all winter. Its previous home was junior Colin Rowe’s bedroom.

The words on the flag: “No guts, no glory.”

Rowe, some 30 minutes after the sectional, stood poolside. Three teammates stood to his right, and a few others stood to his left.

They were pleased.

But not anywhere close to a giddy state.

They had work to do.

They had to prepare for one more meet: state.

“Today,” Rowe said Saturday, “was about giving it our all, to get to where we want to be (this weekend).

“A lot of guys,” he added, “showed courage.”

Scouts junior Andrew Marsh displayed championship form in the morning’s diving segment, a week after plunging to runner-up honors at the NSC Meet at Vernon Hills.

Marsh nailed his first five dives, got a little hiccup-y in the middle round, and then knifed his final three descents.

His inward 2 1/2, dive No. 11?

“It felt great,” said Marsh, 37th at state last winter.

It earned him 6s and 5s and gave him a 447.75-point total; Vernon Hills junior Alex Zuniga finished runner-up (441.2).

“Andrew,” said Scouts diving coach Pam Uhrik, “stayed strong. His confidence this year is up, way up.

“The inwards (2 1/2s) he was doing in practice … I would have given him 7s.”

Marsh was starving after collecting his medal. He couldn’t wait to hit a local restaurant and inhale eggs, bacon and pancakes.

“Chocolate-chip pancakes,” he said. “I’m going to eat a lot, of everything.

“My parents are not going to be happy with the bill.”

LF elation, in the afternoon’s swim segment, materialized early. Rowe anchored the runner-up 200-yard medley relay to a state-qualifying time of 1:35.75. Bryan Bunning, Bogdan Balteanu and Peter Grumhaus swam the first three legs.

In the second race, Grumhaus topped the 200 free field in 1:42.11.

Rowe advanced to state in the 50 free, with a third-place 21.56, and, two events later, secured his third state berth (100 free, 46.99, second place).

In between: Bunning qualified for state in the 100 butterfly (51.46, second place).

But he didn’t want to discuss that feat afterward.

He preferred relay talk.

“Relays,” he said, “really pump me up at a meet like this.”

Bunning joined Rowe, Balteanu and Grumhaus to win a thrilling 400 free relay in 3:09.93, ahead of runner-up crew from Warren (3:10.96).

LF’s time ranks third among all state qualifiers in the event.

LF’s other state-qualifying efforts on Saturday: Grumhaus (500 free, 4:35.66, second place); Bunning (100 back, 51.93, second); freshman Daniel Smith (100 back, 53.29, fourth); and Balteanu (100 breaststroke, 1:00.29, fourth).

Scouts freshman Michael LeMay did not qualify for state, but he amassed valuable team points for the sectional champs by taking fifth in the 100 fly (54.22) and sixth in the 200 IM (2:00.87).

Other notable finishes by LF entrants: Smith (200 free, 1:46.21, fourth place); Jack Williams (diving, 343.45, sixth); Scott Bennatan (500 free, 5:08.71, sixth); Rasmus Kull (100 breast, 1:04.74, seventh); and David Hayes (50 free, 22.78, eighth).

Other state-meet ranks: Grumhaus swam the fourth-fastest 500 free and fifth-best time in the 200 free among state qualifiers; Bunning is ranked fifth in the 100 back and eighth in the 100 butterfly; the Scouts’ 200 medley relay is seventh; only nine other divers in the state performed better than Marsh did last weekend; and Rowe is ranked 13th in the 50 free and 100 free.

Quick laps: Scouts junior swimmers Kurt Blumeyer and John Baker sang the national anthem before Saturday’s sectional. … Six LFHS pool records fell on Saturday, with Warren supplanting four of them. Mundelein senior Bryan Wiener took down a significant one, set by a big Scout in 2003. Matt Grevers sped to a 50.72 in the 100 back nine years ago in the home water; Wiener clocked a 50.66 in the event on Saturday.

Quote-worthy: “Defend this house … our house.” – Grumhaus, on what he and his teammates wanted to do at Saturday’s Lake Forest Sectional.

On the schedule: The diving prelims at state start at 8:30 a.m. Friday at Evanston; the swim prelims begin at 3:30 p.m.

The finals session starts at 1 p.m. Saturday.