‘A very bright future’
How this NIC-10 state swimming and diving medalist plans to improve
The NIC-10’s only state swimming and diving medalist this year finished his season Saturday. And started a new one Sunday.
So, no, Freeport sophomore Tristan Peterson isn’t done after taking seventh in the state with 465.45 points on 10 dives Friday and Saturday at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
“My philosophy is, let’s enjoy this moment now. Let’s not talk about summer or next year yet,” Peterson’s diving coach, Garry Cacciapaglia, said. “He dives club with the University of Wisconsin. He will be in good hands. He will come back strong.
“He’s got a very bright future. I’m breaking my own rule about not talking about next year, but he’s one of the hardest working divers I’ve ever had. He dives year round. There is nothing stopping him. I just want him to stay healthy and enjoy himself.”
While Auburn’s James Murray (200 and 500 freestyle), Hononegah’s Owen West (100 backstroke), Harlem’s Bo
Shields (100 breaststroke) and Boylan’s 400 free relay team were all eliminated in Friday’s preliminary heats, Peterson easily made the quarterfinal and semifinal cuts in diving. He was in sixth place after Friday’s seven dives.
He slipped one spot on his final dive, dropping one spot by four-tenths of a point. He was a solid 12 points ahead of the eighth-place finisher.
“We’re not upset with that,” Cacciapaglia
said. “He was very consistent all the way through. He was a little short with his inward double right at the end, but it still scored OK. Other than that, he hit every dive. So 10 dives in a row he just nailed.”
Diving has long been the Rockford area’s best swimming event. Last year, East’s Camden Taylor won the 200 in state-record time and became Rockford’s first state champ in a swimming event in 20 years. But seven area divers have won nine state titles. Hononegah’s Payton Staman was the most recent in 2016. Many others have made the podium on lower steps. The most recent was Jacob Hedberg, the only state medalist from Belvidere North in any event. He earned a diving medal in all four years, topped by a fifth-place finish in 2018.
Peterson is Freeport’s fourth state diving medalist. The last was Matt Smith, who took third in 2002. He is Freeport’s first state medalist in any swimming or diving event since Mark Fishburn took 11th in the 500 freestyle in 2003.
“There were a lot of good divers here,” Peterson said. “I am glad I got to make it out there and compete against them. It feels good to represent my town and my community well. I am really grateful for this opportunity.”
Noam Kulbak of Highland Park, who won state with the eighth-highest score of all time (531.30) is a senior and won’t be around next year. Three of the divers who finished ahead of Peterson are undergrads. So is 2022 champ Matthew Yuan of Glenbrook North, who missed state this year after having leg surgery.
It won’t be easy for Peterson to ever reach the top step of the podium. But he’s already on the podium with two years to get even higher. And he’s already working on that climb, not taking a single day off between his high school and club seasons.
“Every other dive besides my final one was really good,” Peterson said. “That one, I just missed a little bit. It was not too bad of a miss. I still got 46 points. It was still a good dive. If I hit it perfect, I would have gone up only one person.
“I’m still happy. Sixth or seventh place wouldn’t make a difference to me. I still made the podium. I am all good.
“Now I am working on getting some harder DD (degree of difficulty) on my list. I want to get a little harder and ride it. I need to work on getting in close to the board, too. Every dive should be closer to the board.”
NIC-10 finishes at state swimming and diving meet:
●
Diving — Tristan Peterson, Freeport,
The fact he had to do that in the first place was another embarrassment for the NFL.
And now here we are. A Super Bowl winner. A Mahomes developer. A smart offensive mind. Now off to college.
Bieniemy framed the move (partly) as a sort of homecoming. He grew up in the area and coached for the Bruins in the early 2000s.
“Southern California,” Bieniemy wrote in an email Saturday, according to ESPN. “I attended high school there. I started my career in the league here (with the Chargers). It’s obviously great to be back with the Bruins, where I was previously employed.”
Bieniemy says one team he interviewed with (he didn’t identify the franchise) offered him its assistant head coach/running backs job. That position was essentially a lateral move.
7th
● 200 freestyle — James Murray, Auburn, 46th
● 500 freestyle — James Murray, Auburn, 41st
● 100 backstroke — Owen West, Hononegah, 35th
● 100 breaststroke — Bo Shields, Harlem, 41st
“I have had countless conversations and interviews with many teams, and I have been applauded and lauded,” Bieniemy wrote. “I can’t say why certain decisions were or were not made but it had nothing to (do) with a lack of anything on my end.
“My self-dignity, worth, integrity, personhood, manhood will never be questioned or compromised. It is not always about money, either. With everything in life, it is often all about timing. At this time in my life, the opportunity affords me the pleasure of continuing to be a maker and leader of men, to do what I love, follow my passion and my dreams while not compromising on who I am as a man.”
We need to be clear. If Bieniemy had been offered an NFL head coaching job, he wouldn’t be going to college. Even if he was offered some type of position
● 400 freestyle relay — Boylan (Gavin Velazquez, Ruairi Bulger, Richie Novak, Matt Dolan), 30th
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City. that looked like a promising avenue to a head coaching position, he wouldn’t leave the NFL.
Bieniemy, I believe, looks at his NFL prospects and knows his chances of finding true career advancement are all but dead. He has an opportunity (perhaps) to reset things at UCLA and (maybe) get another chance to become a head coach in the NFL.
But for now, for right now, someone who won two Super Bowls as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator, who went to five consecutive conference championship games that included three Super Bowl appearances, will reportedly coach at UCLA. No offense to UCLA but this is a magnificent step down.
The NFL, the owners, and others, should be ashamed of themselves that this happened.
Absolutely ashamed.