Wooster’s Sczpanski is in a class by herself

  • brian questel
  • December 21, 2010
  • 251
                        
010311 Sczpanski Promo: Sczpanski carrying a big load for swimming Generals Wooster’s Sczpanski is in a class by herself By Brian Questel And then there was one. That makes it seem like there were once many, but that isn’t the case. There were never very many as Wooster High senior Michelle Sczpanski pointed out. “I started out my freshman year with a class of two,” said Sczpanski, the lone senior for the Generals’ swim team this winter. “I was with Katie Rudawsky … and then they moved to New York. Since then, my sophomore, junior and senior year, I’ve been the only person in my class. There was a big class in front of me and a fairly large one behind me, and with the Y being age groups – 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 – every other year I had one of those classes with me. But in my grade, Katie was the only person.” That has shifted a lot of responsibility onto Sczpanski this year in terms of leadership, but responsibility was something Sczpanski has known for a long time. That has not only been reflected in her captainship, but in her training as well. “She started swimming in September. She swam with the Y team and trained with (Y swim coach) Carl (Shellenberger), and he knows his stuff,” said Wooster High girls coach Chris Matthew. “He worked on her stroke a little and got her to use her hips and get on her side more. When you start swimming in September, when Nov. 1 rolls around you’re in great shape. We have girls who may not have been in the pool since Feb. 25 or July 25 if they did summer. “I talk about how important it is to train year-round if you want to be competitive. Michelle normally isn’t hitting times this good until January. She is very busy because she is editor of the Blade (student newspaper). She’ll miss practice occasionally because of her extracurriculars, but she’ll come to an extra practice Wednesday morning or stay after and make up what she missed. “She is really responsible. She’s such a great kid. … We have a couple other juniors and a sophomore who have been more active and helped her, but Michelle is very mature. Her dad died at an early age and she had older siblings, and because of that she grew up around adults. Plus, her mother is taking care of her grandparents. “She is an atypical high-school girl because of that,” added Matthew. “She is very unique for a high schooler. On paper she is extremely well rounded. She’s in a ton of activities, but she gets stuff done. If you ask her to do it, it gets done, and that comes into play when you are in an adult household.” Sczpanski actually scaled back on one thing this past fall, and that has helped set her up for a successful winter season. “I didn’t play tennis this fall,” she said. “I played tennis my freshman, sophomore and junior years for something to do. It was fun, but I wasn’t very good. This year I started training with the Y and swam until I started my high-school season. I did stuff with the Y coach in the mornings and the fact is I started two months earlier than I would have. “It’s my senior year and I’m not planning to swim in college. I am focused on swimming and I want to do the best I can.” That, along with the being the elder stateswoman on the team, has helped drive Sczpanski. “As the only senior I want to set an example for everyone else,” she said. “Last year there were five captains … but it takes a whole team. I want to do the best I can to motivate everyone to do their best.” That has been reflected in her performance thus far. She swims the 200 and 500 freestyles normally and is on the verge of breaking her personal bests. “My best time in the 200 is a 2:06 flat and in the 500 it’s a 5:40,” said Sczpanski. “So far I’ve gone 5:44 at Ashland and 2:08 in the 200, which also was at Ashland … in our second meet.” Matthew thinks she can smash those PBs quickly. “We have some time goals in mind, but starting her first meet at 5:44 when she ended the year at 5:40, I think she can go under 5:30 and Carl thinks she can go under 5:20,” said Matthew. “We’ll see. She’s a taper queen. When we taper, she’s always right on. She always drops big at the sectional meet.” Sczpanski could find herself in other events as well, as she swam a 28.4 split in the 200 medley relay against Massillon and Kent. “She’ll do what we ask,” said Matthew. “She’s a tall girl and she’s good underwater.” “I want to qualify for districts in the 500, but I’d like to qualify in two personal events, the 200 and 500,” said Sczpanski. “The team is smaller and we’re working with what we’ve got and hopefully we can find the best combination. Hopefully everyone is healthy in January and we can get as many to districts as we can.” Sczpanski has been accepted at Syracuse University, but she is going to participate in the Rotary Exchange program after graduation. “I’ve been accepted into the Newhouse School of Communication, but I deferred that for a year until after Rotary,” said Sczpanski. “I like their layout and design program. I want to major in journalism, but I want a second major in political science or international relations. I’d like to be a foreign correspondent and work for a political magazine, but that’s a tough field to get into.” That may be true, but Matthew has already seen Sczpanski’s toughness in action. She, of all people, isn’t going to count her senior class out on anything.


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