Girls Swimming: Buffalo Grove’s Jedryka qualifies to State in four events

Updated: November 15, 2011 8:36PM

A quiet determination drove Veronika Jedryka through all the hard practices. The payoff was huge: the Buffalo Grove High School junior is headed to the IHSA State Meet in four events.

Jedryka punched her ticket to state in two relays (200 free, 400 free) and two individual events (100 free, 100 backstroke). While all of the successes were important, the backstroke was at the forefront of her wish list.

“My goal at the beginning of the season was to qualify for state in the 100 backstroke,” Jedryka confirmed. “The backstroke is a very important event for me.”

Jedryka, who missed the state cut by less than a tenth of a second last season, left no doubt this time. She captured a Barrington Sectional title Nov. 12 in a school-record 58.70.

“She (Jedryka) said the water felt good,” said Bison coach Tom Mroz. “There was a lot of determination in her after what happened last year.”

“I didn’t want that (coming up short) to happen again,” Jedryka agreed.

She qualified in the 100 free by placing third in 52.65.

The same four swimmers — Jedryka, Sara Fasching, Callie Fasching and Margaret Lotzer — advanced to state in both the 200 free (2nd, season-best 1:39.40) and 400 free (4th, season-best 3:37.63).

Both times shattered school records.

“Our energy was very high,” Sara Fasching said. “After we made it in the 200 free, we said, ‘we made it in one, we might as well make it in the other.’”

All involved were confident the sprint relay would make the cut. But the final event of the day presented a question mark.

“The 400 free was a long shot,” Jedryka admitted, “but we did it.”

Mroz sensed the relays would deliver on the big stage.

“When we swam Elk Grove in midseason, we broke the school and pool record in both relays,” Mroz recalled. “I knew then that we could do it.”

For Jedryka, advancing in the 100 free was not really a surprise. Mroz noted that Jedryka was either at or below the state cut in the 100 free for most of the season.

Senior moment: Sara Fasching earned a third swim by taking fifth in the 100 backstroke. She reached the wall in 59.74 to beat the state standard by .25.

“It (qualifying) was something I thought I could so,” Fasching said. “My fastest time in club was 1:00.2, but I knew I could go lower.”

Her celebration was delayed — her touch pad did not register a time on the big clock. After a short wait, Fasching received the good news.

“I was real happy for Sara,” Jedryka said.

The presence of two strong backstrokers has benefited both Bison stars.

“Veronika is so competitive in practice,” Fasching said. “She pushes you to do your best, and she’s always encouraging you to try your hardest.”

Fasching added a sixth in the 200 free. She hit the wall in 1:57.06 to miss the state cut by .88.

Buffalo Grove finished sixth in sectional with 107 points. Barrington took the sectional title with 256 points, followed by Stevenson (236) and Fremd (211).

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