Champ seeks to improve
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
POLAND -- Poland High junior Carey Venglarcik has two messages for Notre Dame.
Yes, she's received your letters and no, she wouldn't mind a bit if you were to offer her a full swimming scholarship.
"Lots of places are sending me letters, but as of right now, I would like to go to Notre Dame," Venglarcik said. "They treat their swimmers really well."
It could happen.
Venglarcik might be the area's best female swimmer -- she won last year's Division II state championship in the 100-meter backstroke, the only area swimmer to win a state title -- and she's also one of the most intelligent.
She has a 4.0 grade point average in honors courses, and was named a USA swimming academic All-American this year.
Best under pressure: "She's an outstanding competitor," said YSU swimming coach Jackie Bak, Venglarcik's USA swimming coach for the past two years. "When the pressure's on, she's a superstar. That's when she's at her best."
Venglarcik began swimming with a team when she was 5 and joined the USA swimming team in fourth grade.
As a freshman, she qualified for state in two events, finishing 16th in the 200-meter individual medley and third in the backstroke behind two seniors. Last year she qualified for the 50-meter freestyle and was one of the favorites in the backstroke.
"I kind of knew I had a chance, but I didn't want to get my hopes up," Venglarcik said of the state title race. "I knew Sara Stech [then a sophomore at Cleveland Heights Beaumont] would be my biggest competitor."
Venglarcik took first with a time of 58.71 seconds. Stech finished more than a half-second behind (59.28) to take second place.
"It didn't hit me at first," she said. "Because of the USA meets, it sort of felt like just another big meet. But then my teammates started giving me flowers and I was getting congratulated at school and I thought, 'Wow, this is kind of a big deal.' "
Improved training: Venglarcik has improved her training this year, doing morning workouts, working with a nutritionist and participating in Dick Hartzell's jump stretch program. She finished eighth in the backstroke at last weekend's Viking Invitational at Cleveland State University.
"I'm not as nervous about this year," Venglarcik said, "but I'm always worried that there's some freshman coming up or some really great exchange student. There's a lot more pressure on me."
She competes in USA swimming in the off-season and qualified for the U.S. Open, which is a step below the national championships.
Venglarcik also marches in Poland's flag line and plays the bassoon. She's also receiving letters from Ivy League Schools like Harvard and Yale. College recruiters cannot talk to athletes until their senior year.
"She's doing everything right," said Bak, who graduated from Penn in 1992 and was just named to the USA championship coaching staff. "She has all the basic ingredients to succeed and she really believes in herself."
She's not the only one. Her mother, Maggie, and her teammate, Kristen Payne, are two of her biggest supporters, she said.
"My mom is the one who gets me up in the morning [to train] and gets my bags ready," Venglarcik said. "I kind of do this for her because I know it means a lot to her. And Kristen was the only one who stayed to watch me at the Viking meet. She's always telling me 'Come on Carey, you can do it.' And she's pretty funny. She makes me laugh."
scalzo@vindy.com