Hersey enjoys winning perspective at BG

Hersey got its first up-close look at Mid-Suburban East rivals Prospect and Buffalo Grove on Saturday and ended up enjoying a view from above.

For the second straight year, the Huskies won the Buffalo Grove Invitational, this time in dominant fashion. Hersey rolled up 508 points to beat runner-up Prospect (385) and third-place Buffalo Grove (288). Cary-Grove placed fourth (241), followed by Jacobs (226), Rolling Meadows (192), Conant (179), South Elgin (172) and Dundee-Crown (117).

One key for Hersey was the performance of sophomore Amanda Petro, who won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.80, breaking the pool record of 1:58.61 set by Elk Grove's Jen Toler in 2004.

"What was nice about today was that even though things went really well for us, I still had every kid coming to me after races, asking questions, saying, 'What can I do to get better?' " said Hersey coach Dick Mortensen.

Hersey won both the 200 medley and 400 free relays, both in season-best times. The medley of Erin Horne, Christine Rovani, Kelsey O'Donnell and Amanda Petro won in 1:54.24, and the 400 of Horne, Bethany Figiel, Rovani and Petro won in 3:47.37.

Petro also won the 100 free (54.95), and Horne placed third in the 100 back in 1:03.49, just ahead of Figiel (1:04.54).

Prospect junior Jessica Cavaiani edged Rovani to win the 100 breastroke (1:09.95-1:10.09), but Rovani, a senior, hopped back and helped the Hersey finish with a victory in the 400 relay.

"It's always an adjustment," Rovani said of the short turnaround between finishing her best individual event and delivering the key relay leg. "I don't think I'll ever say it's easy for me, but I do think I'm better at it now, having done it for a few years now."

Prospect's medley relay finished second and its 200 free relay was third. Greta Pietraszek placed second in the 100 fly (1:04.76) and third in the 200 IM (2:22.39), Meg Dix won the 50 free (26.20) and the Knights got a big boost in diving, where Christina Pekar won and Sarah Pekar was third.

"Overall, a very nice day for us," said Prospect coach Alfonso Lopez. "It was nice to see some consistency on most of our swims, and Jessica is really reaching another level in her breaststroke. Just watching her, there's a point late in the race where she's really able to kick it in."

Buffalo Grove sophomore Veronika Jedryka won the 500 free in 5:22.27, ahead of Conant's Barbara Rose (5:38.94), and Jedryka won the 100 back in 1:01.96.

Buffalo Grove beat Prospect in a close dual on Thursday; their positions were reversed this time.

"We went with some lineup changes, and then when you figure in the other teams are here, it's hard to predict where you'll end up," said BG coach Tom Mroz.

BG's Sara Fasching won the 100 fly (1:02.04), placed second in the 200 free (2:00.96) and joined Jedryka, Angela Rodriguez and Margaret Lotzer on the third-place medley and the second-place 400 free relay. Lotzer placed third in the 500 free (5:44.22).

First-year Cary-Grove coach Scott Lattyak saw his 200 free relay of Molly English, Danielle Daubke, Hannah Weber and Lauren Curtis win in 1:47.03. Curtis placed second in the 100 free (56.77).

"We definitely switched things up for this meet," said Lattyak. "It was nice to see us win a relay, and we had pretty good swims across the board."

Lattyak is an established age group coach who is in his first year coaching at the high school level.

"It's a new group of kids for me, and it's definitely a shorter season," Lattyak said. "The challenge for me is finding out where our talents really are, and then finding the best way to distribute that talent into meet lineups."

For Rolling Meadows coach Monika Chiappetta, the meet was opportunity to truly try something new. The Mustangs have been concentrating on dryland conditioning, making for one sore group of swimmers. So Chiappetta allowed her girls to choose their own events.

"We need to learn about swimming while we're sore, swimming while we're tired - and swimming fast, even under those conditions," said Chiappetta.

Meadows' top placement came from Vicky Vockeroth in the 100 free (third, 57.03).

South Elgin's top individual finishes came from Alex Moore, who was second in the 200 IM (2:21.59) and 100 back (1:03.05).

Dundee-Crown's Colleen Champa won the 200 IM (2:16.70), and Jacobs' Kristin Horney took second in the 50 free (26.33).