Knights team up, claim title at BG
Prospect swimmers finished first in only 1 of the 12 events at Saturday's Buffalo Grove Stampede.
That didn't seem to matter much when it came time to hand out the team trophy.
The consistent Knights celebrated wildly on the crowded BG pool deck as their name was called as winners of the 10-team invitational.
"We did a great job," said Prospect coach Dick Mortensen.
"We fought as a team. That's kind of been our rallying cry this season. We don't have any superstars but we rally around each other. We're a nickel and dime team - that's how we win, by nickel and diming you."
The big win for the Knights was in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where Greta Pietraszek, Kelly Wilson, Michelle Schueler and Molly Nordyke overtook higher-seeded Cary Grove to win by three one-hundredths of a second.
"We've been practicing really hard," said Wilson. "I didn't expect us to do as well as we did today but I'm really proud of our team."
"I love relays and swimming anchor," added Nordyke. "I was second going into the wall but I caught up and surged at the end to win."
It was a great day in the pool as well for Buffalo Grove's Erin Rodriguez. The senior won the 200 free (1:56.95) and the 100 backstroke (1:00.56) while setting a BG record in the process.
"As a team we did much better today than we have in the past," said Rodriguez. "My (personal) goal was to get the school record for the free and the back. I broke the record for the back but I fell just short in the free."
Amanda Podczecwinksi of Jacobs won the 500 freestyle in 5:27.95 while second-place medalist Monica Tanski (5:38.95) credited difficult practice sessions for her success.
"We've had some really hard practices this week," said the sophomore. "We were all sore but we still managed to come out and set some record times."
"Last year the most we'd swim in a day was 10,000 yards, but this year we've been going as much as 14,000 yards. It's tough, but you just have to manage everything."
Jacobs was second in the team race as Podczecwinksi finished second (2:18.86) in the 200 IM; host Buffalo Grove was third.
South Elgin grabbed fourth place as Rachel Musnicki scored a strong second place in the 100 breaststroke, finishing ahead of 3 higher-seeded swimmers, while the Strom relay team of Musnicki, Alex Moore, Nina Haseman, and Hannah Rueger won the 200 medley relay in 1:58.87.
"This was exciting," said Musnicki, whose teammate Rueger was runner-up in the individual 100 freestyle. "I think the reason that we did so well today is that we've started to bond as a team."
Hersey's Kathryn Korff took second place in the 50 free, while Kelly Hendricks of Conant took the diving event.
Cary-Grove swimmer Kim Kalenda was victorious in the 50 free and 100 free while the Jacobs relay team of Podczecwinksi, Chelsea Conzelman, Kristin Horney and Emily Susmark scored a victory in the day's final event, the 400 free relay, in 3:51.58.