Time's flying for Buffalo Grove
As coach Jamie Klotz pointed out to his team after Friday's meet against visiting Hoffman Estates, time is running out on the boys swimming season.
Fortunately for the Bison, the times are also dropping.
Swimming a somewhat unconventional dual lineup in order to stay fresh for a college events meet today, the Bison earned a 99-87 victory over a vastly improved Hawks squad.
Buffalo Grove junior Ian Rodriguez delivered impressive wins in the 200 free (1:48.90) and the 100 free (48.88) and the Bison got a terrific performance in diving from junior Julian Vasquez (218.95). Other BG individual winners were Matt O'Rourke in the 200 IM and Matt Schulstad in the 100 back.
Hoffman Estates' Mike Christen, Nick Jessee, Adam Pasnicki and Sang W. Han combined to win the 200 and 400 free relays, but that only offset BG's 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay to begin the meet.
Klotz's crew is collectively trying to regain its footing after holiday training attendance was far from 100 percent due to a combination of vacations and illness.
“As a whole, we're a little bit behind where I'd like us to be but I feel really good about what's happening with the team,” said Klotz who was serenaded with ‘Happy Birthday' by his team post-meet (he turns 41 today). “We have a ways to go, but if we can keep some good, positive energy going, we're going to be all right.”
Hoffman Estates coach Josh Schumacher would have liked a little more positive energy on Friday night. While the Hawks have clearly taken a huge step forward and are getting top-notch varsity contributions from Christen, Han, Jessee and Pasnicki, Schumacher wants to see an attitude adjustment when it comes to meets.
“I feel like we need to attack our races,” Schumacher said. “It's great to be competitive, and we've been close in meets for the most part, but now we're 2-3 in duals.
“We come into meets thinking we can win — we've got to start thinking we should win.”
Hoffman Estates had individual winners in Pasnicki (500 free, 5:18.54), Christen (50 free, 24.35), Jessee (100 fly, 1:01.11), and Han (1:06.86).
“My guys are trying to be more dedicated when it comes to workouts, and more confident when it comes to beating other teams. We need to be a little more of both, I think. We've got to be more consistent.”
Conant d. Prospect: The Cougars used a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 backstroke from Alex Shozda, Palmer Lynch and Ryan Haman to put together a 123-63 victory over host Prospect in a Mid-Suburban League divisional crossover.
The Cougars also went 1-2 in both the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Individual winners for Conant included Adrian Lisowski (200 free), Alan Wojciechowski (200 IM and 100 fly), Chad Woytus (50 free), John Maevski (diving), Shozda (100 free), and Lynch (500 free).
Prospect got a 1-2 finish from Nathanael Ginnodo and Brian Kugler in the 100 breaststroke.
Barrington d. Elk Grove: The visiting Broncos rolled to a 143-40 victory over the host Grenadiers and got some standout winning efforts, including the 100 fly by sophomore Kyle Ujiye (54.84), the 50 free by Matt Lee (22.43), the 200 IM by Sebastian Pekarski (2:15.20) and the 100 free by Jack Strauss (50.27).