The Arizona coaching staff is making their way through the midwest as they recruit the boys high school class of 2015. Parks Jones, a middle distance freestyler out of Avon, Indiana and Matt Salerno, a 6’2″ breaststroker from Aurora, Illinois gave Arizona their verbal commitments.
Arizona has done well with breaststrokers from Illinois. Kevin Cordes, a standout breaststroker for the Wildcats, went to high school in Naperville, Illinois. Salerno entered high school as a 1:01 100 breaststroker and has progressed to 55 low during his last three years. Going into his senior season, he is on the verge of breaking the 55 second barrier and maybe even climbing down into the mid 53 second range. His 100 breaststroke is his best event, followed by his 200 breaststroke at 2:01.56. He has dropped close to 15 seconds in that event since starting his high school career.
Salerno’s breaststroke is complemented by a solid 200 IM, as well as his sprint freestyles. His best time in the 200 IM is currently a 1:50.63. He was also a junior national qualifier in the men’s 50 freestyle with his time of 20.90.
Parks Jones is a freestyle specialist that primarily focuses on his 200 and 500. He is the defending Indiana High School State champion in the 200 freestyle with his time of 1:37.11. He is on the verge of breaking the Indiana state record in that event; he was within a tenth of a second during his junior year. That state record has been under attack for the past three years, with swimmers just missing it by hundredths of a second each year. His 500 freestyle is another strong event for him with a best time of 4:27.17.
He has a large range in the freestyle events, but those are his top two events at the moment. He has been 9:10.55 in the 1000 and 15:27.44 in the 1650 so watch out for him as he could develop into a very talented distance swimmer over the next few years. He is also sub 21 in the 50 freestyle and 46 low in the 100, giving him and the coaches a large range of events to work with.
Matt Salerno is part of a two-for of verbal commitments for Arizona on Monday.