Winhawks rise to the occasion at Sections

Check off the second to the last step to State.

What an amazing effort by the Winhawk swimmers. After some great swims at the Big 9 Conference meet, I was wondering how they would react to their taper. Coach Amy and Asst Coach Steve really managed the boys' tapers well from all appearances. Now, after an after noon of huge time drops, they have to repeat or better them in the Finals on Saturday.


I went to the Rochester Rec Center early Thursday to watch the diving competition. There were only 13 divers for Sections. The repeats from Big 9, JM – 3, Winona -3, Owatonna – 3, Roch Century & Mayo have none. Now add in Northfield – 2, and Farmington – 2, Hastings has none. The low numbers indicate a sad statement for the state of diving.

The Winona divers started slow. Winhawk Jr. Stan Petkov was 6th in the rotation and was buoyed by his Forward 1 ½ ss Pike for 25.30 pts, and a Reverse 2 ss Tuck for 30.45 pts to finish prelims in 9th place. Winhawk So. Dan Karnick was 8th in the rotation. He used his Forward 1 ss 1 Twist for 23.10 pts to place 12th in the prelims. Winhawk diver Jr Justin Bublitz also started slow but rallied with a Back 2 ss Tuck for 29.79 pts and a Reverse 2 ss Tuck for 34.5 pts to finish Prelims in 6th. Moving on to Semifinals, Stan scores three solid dives and moves up into 8th place. Dan also steadies himself and moves up two spots to 10th. Justin steps up against some really stiff competition atthe stop of the standings moving up to 5th as they move on to finals on Saturday.

With only 13 divers (sadly) competing, diving was over in no time. With a 3 hour wait I decided to return to Winona to take care of some tasks rather than stick around for swimming. Hindsight is always 20/20 and this is another of those cases. I am kicking myself for not staying to watch the action.

The Winhawks turned a questionable afternoon into a spectacular one logging some great swims and setting themselves up for a good finish Saturday afternoon.

The 200 Medley Relay has been a strong suit for the Winhawks all year and here at Sections the Winhawks found themselves seeded 2nd behind Northfield. They finish in that same spot dropping a full second on their seed.

The 200 Freestyle saw Sr Co-Captain Josh Danzinger seeded 16th and So.Joey Kleinow seeded 20th .So Avery Prondzinski and Jr. Eric Mueller were in the initial heat. Both guys make phenomenal drops in personal bests as Eric drops 16 seconds and Avery 11 seconds to set the tone! So. Joey Kleinow drops 3 seconds on his season best and Josh drops 6 seconds ad moves up 6 spots to qualify 11th for Saturday finals.

The 200 IM saw Sr. Matt Bagshaw not only record his sixth straight personal best time, this one was a doozey. The first five drops totaled 5 seconds. Matt’s Sections swim shaved off 8 seconds itself, an outstanding effort. Swimming in the next heat, 8th Grader Cal Dretske was inspired and drops 6 ½ seconds on his personal best.

The 50 Free, an event where improvement is usually measured in hundredths, Jr. Louie LaPorta improves his personal best by a over half a second. Sr. Jonathan Birdsall slashes almost 2 seconds off his personal best and moves up from the 22nd seed to 11th and is returning for Saturday’s Consolation Final. 8th grader Roger Brosnahan seeded 10th drops a half second and improves his place to 8th and a spot in the Saturday Championship Heat. Sr. Co-Captain Ryan Whalen seeded first in the event finishes near his seed tiem to swim 2nd seed in Saturdays Championship Heat.

The 100 Butterfly kept the streak of great drops alive. All season the Fly has been the Matt & Roger show for the Winhawks. Matt seeded 15th drops 4 seconds off his former best and gets the 11th seed in the Consolation Final. 8th Gr. Roger Brosnahan shaves off a second to drop below a minute and make the 9th seed for Saturday’s swimming.

The 100 Freestyle sees both Joey K. and Alex Kline drop a second on their bests and Gio Borsari drops 3 seconds. Ryan W. starts and finishes as the 2nd seed for Saturday Finals.

The 500 Freestyle sees 8th Gr. Alex Vaslow improve on his Big 9 swim and Sr. Co-Captain Josh Danzinger shaves 11 seconds off his season low placing him in the Consolation final on Saturday.

The 200 Freestyle relay is the race I am most upset about missing. Seeded 6th, the team of Louie L., Jonathon B., Ryan W., Roger B. swim a 1:31.76 to take the TOP SEED going into Saturday Final. Everyone dropped time, Jonathon’s 1 ½ seconds and Roger’s 1.2 seconds were key with Louie and Ryan contributing 0.5 & 0.4 seconds respectively.

The 100 Backstroke had personal bests across the board. Alex K. and Gio B. both improved and Avery P. shaves off over two seconds to move up the seedings and is swimming in Saturday’s Consolation Final.

The 100 Breastroke saw the most swimmers advance to Saturday. Mic Borsari improved his best by 4 ½ seconds. Jonathan Birsdsall improved on his 18th seed shaving off 4 seconds and making Saturday’s Consolation Final. Both Santino LaPorta and Cal Dretske maintained their seeds and will swim in Saturday’s Consolation Final as well.

The 400 Freestyle Relay of Avery P., Joey K., Louie L., Josh D. at 3:47.06 started and finished in the same place swimming 8th seed in Saturday’s Consolation Final.

Section 1AA Finals are Saturday at the Rec Center at 1:30PM.