Buffalo Grove focuses on record pursuits
One moment of Tuesday’s girls swimming dual between host Buffalo Grove and Prospect didn’t seem to quite add up.
The Bison 200-yard freestyle relay of Veronika Jedryka, Margaret Lotzer, Callie Fasching and Sara Fasching had just won by about 2½ seconds against a quality quartet from Prospect.
When Sara Fasching touched the wall after her anchor leg, there was a pause as the BG competitors waited for their time to appear on the board. When it did, there were groans of disappointment from those very swimmers.
That’s because the Bison had narrowly missed the pool record in the event, 1:43.13 set by Cary-Grove in 2004.
“That’s one of the records we feel like this group can get,” explained BG coach Tom Mroz, who last year watched the same foursome establish a team record in the 400 free relay. “We’ve been real close a couple times already.”
BG’s disappointment was tempered by the outcome of the meet. Behind wins from Sara Fasching in 200 IM and 500 free, from Lotzer in the 200 free and 100 free and triumphs in both freestyle relays, the Bison earned a 101-85 Mid-Suburban East victory over Prospect.
Over the weekend, BG’s foursome did break the existing 400 free relay pool record in the invitational meet hosted by the Bison. Problem is, so did Hersey — and the Huskies were slightly faster than BG.
“We’d like to see more of our team’s names up there,” explained Sara Fasching, a senior and captain. “We sure feel like we’ve got the chance to do it.”
For Prospect junior standout Jessica Cavaiani, there was also disappointment — but again, it was short-lived. She was less than satisfied with her winning effort in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.68) after regularly turning in times in the :08’s this season, including an all-time best 1:08.05. Her goal is to regularly be in the 1:07 range before the end-of-season meet sequence begins, putting her comfortably under the state-qualifying standard.
A short chat with Knights coach Alfonso Lopez had her smiling again.
“He just talked about how there are ups and downs in every season, and to not lose confidence,” said Cavaiani. “It helped to hear that.”
Prospect freshman diver Dana Liva continued to impress, winning easily with 204.80.
BG had a freshman winner in the 100 fly, Sara Morosan in 1:07.65, and Jedryka won the 100 back in 1:01.91.
Mroz is pleased he has an established group of top-level varsity talent, because numbers-wise, his team is dominated by swimmers who are relatively new to the sport.
“It’s so important for us to have that group,” he said, referring to Jedryka, Lotzer and the Fasching sisters. “The other kids can see how they go about preparing, practicing. They set the example, and it just naturally kind of brings the younger kids up faster.”
Lopez has a similarly young group, and the Knights are finding their way while collectively learning some lessons the hard way.
“I’m putting some swimmers in tough situations — freshmen anchoring some varsity relays, things I’d prefer not to do, but we really don’t have a choice because we’re so young,” he said. “But we’re working hard and I really like what I’m seeing from our team. We’ve got a great outlook and a lot of enthusiasm. I guess that’s a good thing about being a young team, and in the long run we’re also kind of restocking the program.”
Elk Grove d. Wheeling: The host Wildcats won two of three relays but couldn’t quite match the Grenadiers’ depth as Elk Grove prevailed 97-74 in MSL East action.
Simona Kurta won the 50 free and 100 fly for Elk Grove, which also got a key 1-2 finish in the 100 breaststroke from Jackie Hirschauer and Monika Chojnacka.
Wheeling had a double winner in Leah Malsom (200 IM, 100 free), and the Wildcats’ Theresa Godlewski edged Elk Grove’s Angelica Ford to win the 100 back.
Conant d. Hoffman Estates: The host Cougars earned a 101-76 MSL West victory by winning two relays and getting wins from Allison Cicero in the 200- and 400-meter freestyles and Kristi Burke in the 200 IM and 100 fly.
Conant had season-best times from Natalie Tanski and Saahr Gowani in the 200 free, Elizabeth Kirkwood in the 100 back and Gowani in the 400 free.
Hoffman Estates’ Sharon Sturnfield edged Conant’s Casey Troccoli in a close race to win the 100 free in 1:06.29.
Schaumburg d. Palatine: The host Pirates won two relays and all but one individual race, but Schaumburg had strength in numbers and earned a 99-87 MSL West victory.
Palatine double winners were Amy Zahn (200 free, 100 fly), Laura Mayer (200 IM, 400 free) and Nicole Huffman (100 free, 100 back).
Sydney Skibinski won the 100 breaststroke for Schaumburg, and the Saxons had the top 200 free relay with Maddie Langlotz, Corinne Trujillo, Casey Houts and Abby Langlotz).