Rodriguez' record effort lifts BG past Wheeling
When it comes to motivating his swimmers, Buffalo Grove coach Jamie Klotz doesn't split hairs. Usually, that is.
On Friday, as Buffalo Grove hosted Wheeling in a battle of two of the stronger teams in the Mid-Suburban East, Klotz made an exception in an effort to get a fast time from junior standout Ian Rodriguez in the 100-yard backstroke.
“The fastest time in the state this year in the 100 back is 52.19,” said Klotz. “I told Ian if he went faster than that, I'd shave my beard.”
That beard, of indeterminate vintage, is a fixture of Klotz's visage and a key component of his rock 'n' roll persona. Turns out it will not have to be shaved not yet, anyway.
Rodriguez won the 100 backstroke in 52.79, a tad slower than the goal time but one heck of an early season effort by any standard. Rodriguez broke his own team record by more than a second and also erased the pool record of 53.12 set by Fremd's Jay Glenn in 1995.
It turned out to be an important victory, too, as Wheeling used a 2-3-4 finish in that event to stay within striking distance entering the meet's final two races.
Wheeling's Shane McDade won the 100 breastroke, but BG struck back with a 2-3-4 finish of its own from Matt O'Rourke, Ryan Chlopowicz and Phil Irzyk, and the Bison 400 free relay of Jon Mass, Matt Schulstad, Nick Boukas and Rodriguez pulled out a victory in 3:32.66 as the Bison prevailed 101-82.
“That's the most exciting meet we've had heading into a Christmas break in at least five or six years,” said Klotz. “I congratulated (Wheeling coach) Tod Schwager and the Wheeling swimmers, because they really are doing a great job.”
Starting with the medley relay, where BG's Rodriguez, O'Rourke, Schulstad and Justin MacIsaac edged Wheeling's Bryce Maczko, McDade, Scott Lunardini and Andrew Eiter by one-tenth of second; both teams turned in season-bests by about three seconds. BG won in 1:45.20.
Wheeling won the 200 free relay and got individual wins from Lunardini (50 free) and Maczko (100 free).
BG's other event winners were KC Lotzer in the 200 free and 500 free, Rodriguez in the 200 IM and Schulstad in the 100 fly.
The Bison can look forward to a post-break showdown with Hersey for supremacy in the MSL East. Until then, Klotz wants to see his team focus on both big and little things.
“I think we need to work on our meet presence a little bit,” he said. “We have guys who swim hard, but also guys who like to have fun. Sometimes we lose our focus a little bit.
“I get on them about this stuff in practice, and they know it and say, ‘Oh, yeah, we'll take care of it.' But then it shows up in races, and we've got to eliminate the mistakes. We're going to focus on some of our race details.”