Winhawks cruise to victory at Rochester Mayo.

The Winhawks entered the pool at the eye (center) of Mayo High School but the Winhawks were the storm.

Truth be told it was a close meet until the middle events, the Diving through 100 Freestyle, at which point the Winhawks were dominant.  Mayo tried resurgence in the 500 Free only to encounter a blow to their plans named Haley. The 200 Free Relay was the clincher for Winona. After that Mayo swam very well but it was too late. The Winhawks had the meet and the win out of reach. 

The 200 Medley Relay was contested as expected and the Winhawks A Relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Reese Galewski and Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek placed first with less than a second to spare. Mayo’s A & B relays placed 2-3 edging out the Winhawk B relay by only 8 one hundredths.

Winona          8          Mayo  6

The 200 Freestyle was the first indication that Winhawk Freshman Haley O’Neill was going to have a banner night! Haley had no competition yet put the hammer down and motored to an all time best 2:07.63 winning more than 10 yards. Perhaps she was an inspiration or they were all motivated but Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski swims just an eyelash off her personal best to bring home 3^rd place and Winhawk Sophomore Grace Ell swims her season best getting just touched out for 4^th.

 Winona         18        Mayo  12

The 200 Individual Medley, Winhawk Achilles heel #1 rears its ugly head in this meet too. Mayo enters their best 2 swimmers (Ulsh and Wileman) and takes 1-2-3 even though Winona’s top finisher Freshman Reese Galewski swims a personal best by over a second. Mayo takes over the lead with the 13-3 windfall of points.

Winona          21        Mayo  25

The 50 Freestyle was an awesome race with Winhawk Head Coach Steve Burt throwing a couple Co-Captains at the Spartans. First Year Mayo coach Juliet Parlette counters with one of her rising stars in 8^th Grader Michelle Campeau. The result was a season best by Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek. Toss in a 3^rd by Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon and a 5^th by the other Winhawk Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl and you have not just another points edge for the Winhawks but they even up the score.

Winona          31        Mayo  31

Diving starts the wave of points for the Winhawks. Sophomore Crystal Franzwa takes 1^st due to the strength of her D.D. (degree of difficulty). As expected 3^rd place went to a Winhawk but the surprise was 8^th Grader Sarah Scherbring scoring her personal best high score with Freshman Janelle Mueller scoring her second best total of the year for 4^th.

Winona          42        Mayo  36

The100 Butterfly saw the Winhawks come out of the diving break with renewed energy. Freshman Reese Galewski swam uncontested to a clean 1^st, Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl finished 3^rd.  Battling side-by-side, Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill crushes her personal best time by over a second and a half and brings home 4^th place.

Winona          53        Mayo  41

The 100 Freestyle was a textbook case of visualizing. The JV 100 Freestylers were behind the blocks watching the Winhawk flyers go 1-3-4. Consequently Cotter Jr. Emily Thurow, Sophomore Emily Krause and Cotter Freshman Valeria Bautista-Ruiz ascend the starting blocks and pull off their own 1-2-4 finish respectively. Not to be outdone after watching the JV, The Varsity swimmers do their 4 lengths of eth pool and finish 1-2-3. Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan leads the way with an easy win, Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon places 2^nd and Sr. Taylor Johnson takes 3^rd for the sweep and the biggest lead of the night.

Winona          66        Mayo  44

The 500 Freestyle, known season long as the Winhawks’ Achilles heel #2, was actually cause for a celebration. Winhawk Freshman Haley O’Neill, swimming against some real strength puts the hammer down and swims to her personal best, a sub 6 minute finish and breaks up Mayo’s plans for a 1-2 finish.

Winona          73        Mayo  53

The 20 Freestyle Relay has been a strong suit for Winona all season and tonight was a perfect example.  The line-ups got mixed up a bit from usual and it paid off big. The Winhawk relay of Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow and Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan take first. Right behind them, the relay of Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill, Senior Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Greer Kosidowski and Freshman Haley O’Neill (Only minutes after completing personal best 500 yard freestyle) touch out Mayo for 2^nd place by less than a second. Wanting to be a part of the show, the relay of Sophomore Emily Krause, Cotter Sophomore Grace Ell, Sophomore Ashlen Haines and Sr. Erin Bernardy place 4^th.

Winona          85        Mayo  55

The 100 Backstroke was a big gun event. May sent their Senior stud Kalene Wileman and Winona counters with Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan who finishes 2^nd to the 2009 Section 1AA Finalist. MacKenzie’s 105.27 will move her up to the 7^th fastest Winhawk 100 backstroke of all time!

Winona          90        Mayo  66

The 100 Breaststroke saw Mayo’s last power swimmer Lauren Ulsh come to the blocks. Ulsh takes first but Winhawk Sr. Taylor Johnson swims to 2^nd and both Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek and Freshman Greer Kosidowski swim a personal best to take 3^rd & 5^th respectively.

Winona          98        Mayo  74

At this point the Winhawks have the meet won and mix up the relays to have some fun as they wind down from the meet. The relays take 2-3 & 5 but swim exhibition.

Final Score:

Winona Winhawks (4-2, 3-2)   98    Mayo (1-4, 1-4)      86

Next up, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, (Jaws Shark music) Rochester John Marshall on Tuesday.

The Winona Winhawks seek victory in the eye of Mayo High School.

Thursday evening the Winhawk Girls Swimming & Diving Team head to Rochester Mayo. If you haven’t ever had the pleasure, Mayo is a round school building and the pool is in the inner core, the eye of the storm as it were.

The pool seating is tight, it can be loud and as a spectator you are right up and close to the swimming and diving. (As in sit in the front row and you will get wet!) Ya gotta love it!

The Rochester Mayo Spartans are 1-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big 9 coming into Thursday’s Contest while the Winhawks are 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big 9. Both are coming off dual meet losses and looking to start some momentum heading into the October countdown to the Big 9 and Sections. 

Rochester Mayo started the school year with no plans for girls swimming but had  an outpouring of interest. They pulled the program together and found a coach to lead things just as school was starting. They were hit hard with graduation and return just 2 seniors and 4 juniors but the six are quality swimmers with State Meet experience among them.

The 200 Medley relay will be contested as the Winhawks are swimming 1:59’s and the Spartans team of Sr. Kalene Wileman and Jr. Lauren Ulsh, (both swam Mayo’s IM Relay at state last year), with 8^th Graders Phoebe Wu and Shavonne Chen have swum a near 2:00 flat.

The 200 Freestyle may very well be yet another test for the dependable Haley O’Neill. The Winhawk Junior seems to have a head to head race every meet and if she goes up against Mayo 8^th Grader Michelle Campeau that just may be the case again.

The 200 IM will most likely see Mayo’s Jr. Lauren Ulsh. She was 3^rd at Section 1AA last year and finished 24^th at State. Who’s there to counter for the Winhawks but Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan or Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski?

The 50 Freestyle will hopefully continue to be a points windfall for the Winhawks.

Away meet at Mayo equals…….DIVING DIVING DIVING DIVING DIVING DIVING

Winhawk Sophomore Crystal Franzwa should have another night to show her stuff with minimum pressure from Mayo. In fact, it may be the night for Winhawk Freshman Janelle Mueller to battle Mayo’s Section Finalist Sophomore Kalli DeRuiter and steal away second place.

The 100 Butterfly could see a Winhawk 1-2 finish if Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl and Freshman Reese Galewski step to the blocks. Mayo 8^th Grader Phoebe Wu has been posting 1:07’s.

The 500 Freestyle should be the Spartans’ event with Mayo’s 8th grader Michelle Campeau who’s been logging 5:40’s leading the way.

The 200 Free Relay will also be contested. The Winhawks have been touching in 1:46 to 1:47. Against both Albert Lea and Faribault, Mayo did the exact same thing so it should be a great race.

The 100 Backstroke may well be a battle of the seniors. Mayo’s Kalene Wileman, 6^th at Sections last year against our own Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl who was 8^th at Sections last year.

The 100 Breaststroke could have been a great race, now we’ll have to wait for Sections! Mayo Junior Lauren Ulsh has been clocking 1:11’s just as Winhawk Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke has. They finished 3-5 respectively last year at Sections with Ulsh going on to swim prelims at State. I am pretty sure we will have to wait until Sections again for their rematch.

The 400 Freestyle Relay may very well go to the Winhawks purely due to depth by this point in the meet. Only time will tell. 

See you in the eye of Mayo Thursday!

Winona bounces back at Richfield Spartan Invite

After their set back at Austin Thursday, Saturday the girls boarded the bus returning to the Twin Cities, this time for the Richfield Spartan Invite.

The host of course was Richfield High School out of Section 4A, invited guests included Minneapolis South from Section 6AA, Robbinsdale Cooper of Section 5AA, Menomonie (WI) Sr. High School, and our own Winhawks.

The 200 Medley Relay sent the Winhawks on their way. The Winhawks A Relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Reese Galewski and Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek placed first with 10 yards to spare over Minneapolis. The B Relay was impressive with its mix of age and youth. Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte, Fr. Greer Kosidowski, Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill and Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon finish in 4^th overall.

The 200 Freestyle was another hard fought, nose-to-nose see saw battle for Winhawk Fr. Haley O’Neill. A hair behind at the 50 only to pull a hair ahead by the 100, she maintained a lead by an eyelash at the 150, only to be touched out by less than a half a second at the finish. Right behind her, Freshman Reese Galewski finished her last 50 strong swimming her best 200FR ever and places 4^th overall. Other Winhawks splashing the 200 FR for the first time this Season were Cotter Sophomore Grace Ell placing 10^th and Freshman Morgan Crowson who actually would have placed 16^th if she hadn’t had to swim exhibition.

The 200 Individual Medley Features Winhawk Sr. Erin Bernardy who swims a season’s best and was just 2 tenths of an all time low placing 8^th overall. Winona Freshman Razil Campbell and Greer Kosidowski swim side-by-side to 12^th and 13^th respectively. Winhawk Jr. Samantha Berg swims the 200IM for the first time this season finishing 17^th and adding some additional points to the Winhawk total.

The 50 yard freestyle was a dominating performance by the Winhawks. Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan, followed by the Winhawk Senior Co-Captains Bridget Bawek and Samantha Quandahl finish 1-2-3 respectively raking in 1/3 of all the points possible in the event! Bridget swims her fastest 50 of the season. Adding more points to the tally by placing 9^th is Winhawk Sophomore, Ashlen Haines.

Next the Winhawk Divers kicked in their fair share to the point total. All 4 divers improve on their Apple Valley 11 dive scores with Sophomore Crystal Franzwa placing 2^nd followed by Freshman Janelle Mueller in 6^th, 8^th Grader Sarah Scherbring in 8^th place and Sophomore Megan Seeley in 9^th.

The 100 Butterfly means Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski hits the water. She dominates this event winning by over 5 seconds, (nearly 20 feet). Sophomore Samantha Johnson places 7^th overall and although swimming exhibition, Sr. Erin Bernardy would have been right before her and Freshman Morgan Crowson likewise would have been top 10.

The 100 Freestyle is another spotlight event for Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan. She finished first with room to spare in 55.33. Proving her addition to the Minute Man club was no fluke, Foreign Exchange Student now Winhawk Lalita Charungchainanon places 3^rd with a season best 59.28. Winhawk Sr. Taylor Johnson places 5^th and young Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte continues to amaze finishing in a season best 102.41 for 6^th.

The 500 Freestyle sees Winhawk Freshman Haley O’Neill sent to the blocks again and she swims to a respectable 5^th place. Showing great character, Winhawk 8^th grader McKenzie Porter starts out shadowing Spartan Jr. Sarah Sathre. McKenzie falls 2 ½ seconds behind only to claw her way back in the last 100 yards to just get touched out by .19 seconds for 9^th place. Cotter Sophomore Grace Ell places 11^th and Winhawk Sr. Melanie Jones-McMillan rounds out the scoring in 14^th.

The 200 Free relay should have been a breeze based on the 50 free results and it was. The team of Sr. Taylor Johnson, Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Haley O'Neill, and Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan win with a 1:47.52 and a 5 ½ second buffer. Winona’s B relay of Jr. Lolita Charungchainanon, Jr. Ashlen Haines, Fr. Greer Kosidowski and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neil swim to a solid 3^rd place finish ahead of Menomonie, Robbinsdale and Richfield’s A relays!

The 100 Backstroke was a solid chance for Winhawk Sr. Samantha Quandahl to shine and she pulled through with flying colors. Leading by 3/4ths of a second at the 50, she holds off the charging Mpls SW swimmer to take 1^st Place in the fastest 100 Back by a Winhawk this year. Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte leads the next pack of swimmers cruising to a 3^rd place finish overall.

The 100 Breaststroke was a great event for the Winhawks for a whole host of different reasons. First was Winhawk Sr. Taylor Johnson’s breakout swim. You knew it was going to happen sometime and Saturday was the day. Her 1^st place time of 1:15.06 was her quickest of the season by nearly a full second and dominated the race. Getting back to her roots, Winhawk Sr. Co-Captain and usual sprinter Bridget Bawek swims a rare 100 Breast and turns her best 100 breast ever into a solid 3^rd place finish. Behind her in 6^th was Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski returning to form. Rounding out the quality Winhawk swims was Melanie Jones-McMillan swimming her best of the season.

The 400 Freestyle Relay was an icing on the cake event and the Winhawks did not let it go to waste. The A relay of Freshman Haley O’Neill, Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan and Freshman Reese Galewski cruised to an 8 second victory. Again, not to be outdone, the Winhawk B relay of Jr. Lolita Charungchainanon, Jr. Ashlen Haines, Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte  and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neil swim to 4^th overall beating two other A relays.

Final Score:

Winona                                  538

Minneapolis Southwest      445

Richfield                                399

Menomonie WI                     256.50

Robbinsdale Cooper           208.50

Next up: Thursday the Winhawks travel to the eye (center) of Rochester Mayo High School.

The Winhawks drop a nail biter to the Packers.

Austin has been earning its stripes all season, going up against some pretty tough competition. Coach Lynn Gulbrandson, a near 20 year veteran at the Packers helm, is crazy like a fox. His team was 0-6 but they are getting stronger from the stiff competition. Tonight’s Winhawk vs. Packer contest was a spectator’s delight with exciting races, some roster juggling and a down to the last event score that made the trip to Austin very worth while.

Ordinarily, it’s the Winhawks dominating the relays and subsequently those points. Tonight, the tides turned. The Winhawks were outscored in the relays 26-12, (in the scoring it was 24-14 as Austin’s 3^rd place finish in the 400 Free Relay was a non-scoring exhibition swim).

The 200 Medley Relay was indeed a good barometer of how the evening would shake out. The Winhawks' A Relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Reese Galewski and Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek were just a hair off their game and that was all the opening the reigning Section 1A champions needed. Brooke Johnson, Kelli Bednar, Averi Splinter, and Lauren Edwards swam a respectable 1:58.59 for the win with the Austin B relay taking 3^rd.

Winona          4          Austin            10

The 200 Freestyle also lived up to its billing. Austin’s Sophomore Helen Heimark led wire-to-wire with the Winhawks’ Freshman Haley O’Neill close to her shoulder. Haley touches in second and Cotter 7^th grader Morgan Whyte swims a best of the season 2:17.01 for a solid 4^th place.Austin's 1-3-5 extends their lead to 10 points.

Winona          10        Austin            20

The 200 IM was an example of coaching strategy at work. Winona’s Head Coach Steve Burt enters Cotter standout, Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan expecting her to race Austin’s standout Senior swimmer Averi Splinter (6^th at Class A State 100 Fly last year). It turns out Austin Coach Lynn Gulbrandson decides to save Splinter and concedes the IM win and ends up taking 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th for an even 8-8 split in points.

Winona          18        Austin            28

The 50 Free reveals the Austin’s coach’s strategy. Recognizing the strength of the Winona Sprinters, Gulbrandson enters Austin's star swimmer Avery Splinter in the 50 looking to break up a 1-2 and possibly 3^rd sweep finish by the Winhawks which would have been devasting points wise. The strategy works and Splinter touches out Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek by 0.6 seconds. Winhawk Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon motors to a 3^rd place finish and Sr. Taylor Johnson is touched out by 0.03 seconds to place 5^th. Coach Gulbrandson’s strategy returns an 8-8 split instead of the 12-4 total the Winhawks might have banked.

Winona          26        Austin            36

Diving was dominated by Winona’s Sophomore Crystal Franzwa. Her 186.70 was 35 point above her closest competition. Winhawk Freshman Janelle Mueller placed 4^th and the points are again split 8-8.

Winona          34        Austin            44

The 100 Fly was indeed a great contest between Austin’s Senior State Finalist Averi Splinter and the Winhawks’ Freshman sensation Reese Galewski. The two went head to head from start to finish with the All State Swimmer from Austin touching first 1:02.34 to Galewski’s 1:03.25, her second fastest time ever. Right behind them taking the 3^rd place points was Winhawk Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl. Austin's 1-4-5 opens up the biggest lead of the evening.

Winona          41        Austin            53

The 100 Freestyle was Winona’s event to shine. Unlike the other sprint, the 50 Freestyle, there was no Packer to bust up the show here. Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek led the charge the entire 4 lengths of the pool for the win. Winhawk Freshman Haley O’Neill was right behind her for 2ndf place. The Packers’ Kelli Bednar catches Winona Foreign Exchange Student Jr. Lalita Charungchainanon and they finish in a dead tie breaking up the 1-2-3 for the Winhawks. Even splitting those points still yields a 12.5 to 3.5 advantage in favor of the Winhawks, reeling in the Packers and they are right back in the meet.

Winona          53.5    Austin            56.5

The 500 Freestyle was Coach Burt’s time to pull some strategy. He sends Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan to the blocks to break up the impact of Austin’s Sophomore Helen Heimark and Freshman Meredith Fritz. MacKenzie wins handily in 5:37.31, the fastest 500 by a Winhawk this year. It was also MacKenzie’s fastest 500 ever moving her up to 6^th in the 500 on the all time fastest Winhawk list. Winhawk 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter swims her fastest 500 of the year to take 5^th and add another point to the cause keeping the Winhawks close.

Winona          60.5    Austin            65.5

The 200 Free Relay wina goes to the Winhawks. The team of Sr. Taylor Johnson, Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Haley O'Neill, and Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan win with a 1:46.17, but the depth is on the Packer’s side with them taking 2^nd & 3^rd touching out Winona’s B relay of Jr. Lolita Charungchainanon, Freshman Gabby Kleinow, Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neil by 0.7 Seconds. The win closes the gap ever so slightly.

Winona          68.5    Austin            71.5

The 100 Backstroke also contributes to the comeback with Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl placing 2^nd in 1:08.08. Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte and Cotter Freshman McKenna Marg both swim season best times to finish right behind Sam for 2^nd & 3^rd and another 9-7 edge in points for the Winhawks.The Winhawks have pulled back to within one point of the Packers.

Winona          77.5    Austin            78.5

The 100 Breaststroke, usually a good scoring event for the Winhawks but with Cotter Standout Alexandra Zuelke out of the line up ther eis more pressure on the WInhawks. The race  pitted Austin’s Senior Kelli Bednar against Winhawk Sr. Taylor Johnson. Taylor swims one one-hundredth off her season best time for a clean second place finish. Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski brings home a 4^th place finish but with a 1-3-5 finish Austin extends their ever so slight lead.

 Winona         83.5    Austin            88.5

The 400 Freestyle Relay was a last man standing event as Coach Steve Burt had thrown everything he had at the Packers earlier in the meet. His A relay of Freshman Haley O’Neill, 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte, Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl and Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan gave it their all but finished 2^nd. The Winhawk B relay of Cotter Fr. Emily Thurow, 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter, Cotter Freshman McKenna Marg and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill are awarded points for 3^rd after the exhibition swim of Austin’s B& C relays.

Winona (3-2 overall, 2-2 Big 9)          89.5    Austin (1-6 overall, 1-3 Big 9)           96.5

Nest up, the Richfield Spartan Invite.

The Winhawks head to Austin for a dual meet with the Packers.

Austin is one of the Big 9 competitors that gets tested weekly. They are a Class A school in a conference with lots of Class AA competition. Unafraid, Coach Lynn Gulbrandson actually started his season off swimming a double dual against both Lakeville South and Lakeville North on the same night. Follow that with dual meets against Owatonna, Faribault and Rochester Century. Lastly, go to the Lakeville Relays with half the field being AA teams and finish in the middle of the pack and second among Class A schools. Consequently, although they are 0-5 already, they are all the tougher for the higher level of competition and not to be taken lightly. 

Austin has about 45 swimmers & divers and the high school grades evenly covered with 8-10 swimmers per grade so they are deep and seasoned. Maybe to Winona’s advantage, Austin is keeping up their hectic pace and will be hosting Northfield (5-1) on Tuesday prior to hosting the Winhawks Thursday.

The 200 Medley Relay will be a good barometer of how the evening will shake out. With the loss of Alexandra Zuelke, the Winhawks A Relay of  Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Reese Galewski and Freshman Hailey O’Neil will have to be on their A game. The Packer Medley Relay was the Section 1A champion last year and has 3 on that relay returning. Brooke Johnson, Kelli Bednar, Averi Splinter, and Lauren Edwards have posted a 1:57 this season.

The 200 Freestyle should showcase an awesome race between Austin’s Sophomore Helen Heimark and the Winhawks’ Freshman Haley O’Neill. This race could go head to head the entire 8 lengths.

The 200 IM will most likely feature Austin’s standout Senior swimmer Averi Splinter (6^th at Class A State 100 Fly last year). She has been posting 2:25’s and Steve Burt may have to counter with Winona’s standout, Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan to make it a race.

As has been the case all season, look for the Winhawks to try and monopolize the 50 Freestyle with Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek and Sr. Taylor Johnson. They have a good chance of going 1-2.

You know what an away meet means, WE GET TO WATCH DIVING! We should be in for a treat. It could be a great contest between Austin’s Freshman Autumn Laury and Winona’s Sophomore Crystal Franzwa depending on how consistent Laury is. Crystal is coming off a big 1^st place finish in the Apple Valley Invite and should be inspired.

The 100 Fly will be an awesome contest between Austin’s Senior State Finalist Averi Splinter and the Winhawks’ Freshman sensation Reese Galewski. Both have posted 1:02’s recently and may very well go wire to wire.

The 500 Freestyle will be a quandary for Winona Coach Steve Burt. Always trying to figure out whom to pull from a strong event to plug into the 500, he will have to counter Austin’s Sophomore Helen Heimark and Freshman Meredith Fritz. Both can post just under and just over 6 minute times respectively. So the Winhawks will have to counter with someone capable. Perhaps the call will go to Freshman Haley O’Neill or Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl again, very possibly both.

The 200 Free Relay should go to the Winhawks with a deeper sprinter field than the Packers to draw from.

The 100 Backstroke will most likely see Austin’s State Qualifier Senior Brooke Johnson. With how she has been performing Coach Steve Burt may have to counter with Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan and Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte following behind her.

The 100 Breaststroke means Austin’s Senior Kelli Bednar will be in the water. She has swum a 1:14 this season so Winhawk Sr. Taylor Johnson will have to summon up a great swim to lead the Winhawks on a high note into the final relay.

The 400 Freestyle Relay should go to the Winhawks for the same reason as the 200FR Relay. Too much speed deep into the line-up, but hopefully they will have the meet sewn up by then and won’t need to take it.

Have fun Thursday night watching a great meet between two programs with rich histories.

Lay of the Land

Last weekend all but one of the Big 9 teams headed to the Twin Cities to rustle up some different competition. Seven of the Big 9 Teams were competing at the Lakeville Relays. It looks like a fun meet, the events are, as the name implies, all relays:

200 medley relay

3 x 200 freestyle

3 x 100 Ind. Medley
4 x 50 freestyle

Diving Relay
250 Butterfly relay
Crescendo (50-100-200-500 yards)
3 x 100 backstroke

3 x 100 breast stroke
4 x 100 freestyle

LAKEVILLE RELAYS   Team results
Rochester John Marshall 152, Lakeville North 130, Rochester Century 113, Faribault 103, Lakeville South 103, Northfield 92, Shakopee 90, Austin 82, Mankato East 51, Minneapolis Edison 46, Rochester Mayo 43, Albert Lea 41.

Of course as reported, Winona was at the AV Invite just a few miles away:

APPLE VALLEY INVITE

Apple Valley 768, Edina 752, Winona 714, Minnetonka 488, Park of Cottage Grove 369

Mankato West was in Prior Lake just a few miles west:

PRIOR LAKE INVITE

Prior Lake 556.5, Marshall 360.5, Mankato West 302, St. Peter 238, Andover 191, Simley 184, Watertown-Mayer/Delano 157, New Prague 114

The only Big 9 team not swimming last weekend was Owatonna.

Other swims of note, Section 1AA foe Farmington dominated the Bloomington Kennedy Invite:

BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY INVITE results:

Farmington 850.5, Bloomington Jefferson 456, Bloomington Kennedy 427, Eau Claire (Wis.) North 356.5

SPRING LAKE PARK INVITE

Monticello 605, Buffalo 444, Coon Rapids 358, White Bear Lake 266, Spring Lake Park 225, Irondale 204, Metro United 196

The Big 9 Conference standings through last weekend are:

Big Nine Standings		Overall			Big 9
Teams	W	L	T	W	L	T
Rochester Century	3	0	0	3	0	0
Rochester John Marshall	3	0	0	3	0	0
Faribault	4	0	0	3	0	0
Winona H.S.	3	1	0	2	1	0
Owatonna	2	3	0	1	2	0
Mankato East/Loyola	1	2	0	1	1	0
Mankato West	1	3	0	1	3	0
Rochester Mayo	1	2	0	1	2	0
Albert Lea	0	3	0	0	3	0
Austin High School	0	5	0	0	5	0

Dual meet standings

Up next for the Winhawks: Austin at Austin in a dual meet Thursday and on Saturday the Richfield Spartan Invite featuring Richfield, Winona, Austin, Menomonie, Owatonna, Bloomington Jefferson, Robbinsdale Cooper, and Woodbury.

The Winhawks travel to the Twin Cities and return with some great swims, some respect, AND some hardware!

The Winhawks traveled, (some VERY early) to the Twin Cities and Valley Middle School for the Apple Valley Invite. The Winhawks were joined in the competition by host Apple Valley who has grown stronger since their finish just behind the Winhawks last year at State. Also strutting into the building were perennial powerhouses Edina (2^nd at 2009 State) and Minnetonka (3^rd at 2009 State). Rounding out the field was Park of Cottage Grove. Winona was going to be without the talents of IM’er & Breastroker Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke for the meet. Already thin in the IM ranks and having planned on her fly in the A Medley Relay and her sprinting capabilities on the A 400 Free relay, some shuffling of relays had to happen quickly before the meet started. Looking at the meet program, it became apparent that this was going to be a learning exercise for the strength programs. Perhaps because Edina and Minnetonka are conference foes, there were some off event swims and focus on younger swimmers. Edina with 90 swimmers on their roster was swimming a good number of them exhibition, but many of the girls designated exhibition were their faster swimmers. By my count, Edina left around 450 points on the table (which would have diminished the other teams’ scores) thus dominating the results. The AV Invite format was a timed finals with each team allowed 4 entries per event. The Relays score 40 pts for 1^st place and count down by 2’s to 20^th. The Individual events score 20 pts counting down by 1 to 20^th place. As it was, it made for a closely contested meet and fun to watch. The Diving was an 11 dive (Championship) event, so the girls had to be accomplished divers with 6 required and 5 optional dives.

The highlight for the Winhawks Saturday was the solid performances of their veterans which contributed to, perhaps inspired, some exceptional performances by the younger and “middle core” swimmers on the team. The kind of results that had Coach Steve Burt “airborne”  after a few times posted on the scoreboard. He may be hearing the term “Air Burt” coined on occasion from now on. Ultimately the Winhawks walked away with the 3^rd place trophy and a well earned celebratory bus trip home.

The 200 Medley A Relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Reese Galewski and Freshman Hailey O’Neil raced to a 2^nd place finish just beating out Edina’s B Relay by a half a second. Looking to the future, the youngsters in Winona’s B Relay of Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte, Freshman Greer Kosidowski, Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill, and Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow swim to a solid 6^th place finish. Winona’s C relay novice/veteran mix of 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter, Sr. Melanie Jones-McMillan, Sr. Erin Bernardy and Cotter 7^th Grader Alexandra Arnold improve on their seed time to take 10^th overall.

Apple Valley 114      Winona 90    Edina 84        Park 60  Minnetonka           50      

 

The 200 Yard Freestyle sees Winona Freshman Hailey O’Neill swim her personal best slashing 6 seconds off of her seed time and 4 seconds off her fastest time this year. Her standout effort nets her 3^rd place overall. Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski finishes in 13^th place. Her team mates, Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow and Winhawk Jr. Kayla Berg, both were swimming the 200FR for the first time this year, place 14th & 17^th respectively.

Apple Valley 168      Edina 144     Winona 127  Minnetonka   90   Park 87   

The 200 IM showcases Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski as she wins her heat and a 3^rd place finish overall. 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter is the youngest swimmer finishing in the top 10 and Sr. Erin Bernardy adds to the Winhawk scoring in 14^th place.

Apple Valley 234      Edina 180     Winona 163    Minnetonka   138   Park 102

As they do this year and the past few years, Winona’s Sprinters come through strong placing 1-3-6-12 and their performance put the Winhawks back into 2^nd place. Cotter Jr. Standout MacKenzie Brosnahan is awarded 1^st place. Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek wins the 4^th heat and her time is good enough to move up to 3^rd  place  overall. Sr. Taylor Johnson is right behind her finishing 6^th overall and Ashlen Haines improved on her early season time by a second and a half to finish 12^th in 30 seconds flat..

Apple Valley 292      Winona 225     Edina 224     Minnetonka   152   Park 134           

             

One meter diving at the Apple Valley Invite is an 11 dive (Championship format) event, the first one of the season for the Winhawks. As such, the competition was held in the morning to allow the 2 ½ hours required for the event. Our poor Winhawk divers had to leave Winona at 5:30AM in order to get to Apple Valley in time for warm-ups. After the Preliminaries (first 5 dives) the Winhawks found them themselves in 15^th (8^th Grader Sarah Scherbring),  9^th (Sophomore Megan Seeley) 8^th (Freshman Janelle Mueller) and 2^nd Sophomore Crystal Franzwa. In the 6^th round, Megan Seeley has a misstep on her hurdle and is unable to completely perform her Reverse 1ssTuck. The Diving Referee, in his assessment of the attempt, invokes Rule 9-8-3-a and disqualifies Megan from further competition for “not making a sincere attempt to perform the dive”. This is an existing rule that is being re-emphasized this year after some instances in last year’s season. It is there for both the safety of the divers and the integrity of the sport  At the end of the Semi-finals (8 dives), Sarah has moved up to 12^th place, Janelle is still in 8^th place and Crystal is still in 2^nd place with 218.8 pts, 32 points out of the lead. Highlights of their final 3 dives, Janelle hits her Inward dive in the pike position for a 4 1/2 and the rest 5 1/2’s. Sarah receives 3 1/2’s and 4’s on her Reverse 1ss Tuck. They finish 9^th and 13^th respectively. Chrystal throws a Forward 1ss with 2 twists for 34.5 pts. She follows with a Back 2 ss in Tuck that scores 27.50. With Crystal making up ground on her, the diver from Edina cracks scoring only 2’s and 3’s on her final dive with a moderate DD (degree of Difficulty) and leaving the door open for Crystal. Crystal finishes up with a Back 1 ss with 2 ½ Twists, a 2.7 DD dive. She Starts the dive with just enough height and stops the twist cleanly for 41/2 and 5’s for a 39.15 score. The result, Crystal overtakes her for the win 319.95 to 317.85! Edina divers finish 2^nd 7^th & 11^th so they overtake Winona by 2 points!

Apple Valley 332      Edina 267     Winona 265      Minnetonka   194   Park 164           

The 100 Butterfly is another chance for Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski to shine and she is given the win in 1:03.78. Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl takes 4^th and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill cuts a second and a half off her previous best to finish 10^th in 1:13.69.

Apple Valley 388      Edina 325     Winona 313  Minnetonka   224   Park 181

The 100 Freestyle continues to be the bright spot for Winona. The Winona Cotter speedster Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan takes first place. Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek swims a season’s best time and Freshman Haley O’Neill (who goes under 1 minute for the first time this year), go 2^nd and 3^rd  respectively behind MacKenzie. Cotter 7^th grade power house Morgan Whyte brings home 7^th overall and the Winhawks move back into 2^nd place with 5 events to go.

Apple Valley 424      Winona 384     Edina 374     Minnetonka   268   Park 191

             

Then, as usual, the 500 Freestyle comes along. While a tough scoring event, (the Winhawks slide back to 3^rd place) there were some significant achievements with all three Winhawk swimmers earning season best times. Sophomore Grace Ell cracks the top 10 by swimming a personal best time of 6:21.28, a 17 second improvement on her seed time. 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter places solidly at 12^th place by shaving 6 seconds off of her seed time and swimming a season’s best time. Lastly, setting the tone in the first heat, Alexandra Arnold, a Cotter 7^th Grader cuts 4 seconds off her best time to place 14^th overall.

Apple Valley 487      Edina 427     Winona 412     Minnetonka   319   Park 210

The 200 Freestyle Relay was big for the Winhawks. The A Relay of Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Sr. Taylor Johnson, Freshman Haley O’Neill, and Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan win the event in 1:46.46 but just as exciting are the other relays.  The Winhawk B Relay of Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow, Cotter 7^th Grader Alexandra Arnold, Freshman Greer Kosidowski and Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill swim to 3^rd place in 1:58.84. The Winhawk C Relay of Sophomore Samantha Johnson, Sophomore Ashlen Haines, Cotter Sophomore Grace Ell  and Sr. Erin Bernardy combine get toughed out placing a solid 7^th.   The D Relay of Jr. Kayla Berg, Freshman Morgan Crowson, Sophomore Emily Krause and Sr. Melanie Jones McMillan score good points in 13^th place to help the Winhawks stay close to the Hornets and Eagles.

Apple Valley 575      Edina 539     Winona 532 Minnetonka   367   Park 256

The 100 Backstroke was a coming out party for some Winona backstrokers. Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl swimming out of Lane 1 passes by two Edina Swimmers,  drops a full second and a half on her best time of the year and places 3^rd overall!  Even more exciting was the performance of young Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte. Seeded 8^th in a pretty elite field already, she drops 2 ½ seconds off her seed time, finishes 5 seconds ahead of her heat competition and moves up to 4^th in the overall standings.

Apple Valley 624      Edina 599     Winona 580 Minnetonka   393   Park 283

The 100 Breaststroke had us down a competitor so only 3 entries but the girls gave it all they had. Sr. Winhawk Taylor Johnson maintains her seed against tough Hornet and Eagle competition for 5^th place overall. Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski wins her heat dropping 2 ½ seconds and placing right behind Taylor in 6^th overall. Not to be outdone, Sr. Winhawk Melanie Jones McMillan shaves nearly 3 ½ seconds off her seed time to swim her best of the season, win her heat and move up 3 spots to place 10^th overall.

Apple Valley 662      Edina 656     Winona 622 Minnetonka   428   Park 315

The 400 Free Relay was a great race with the Winhawks A Relay of Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Reese Galewski, Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan  and Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl finishing 2^nd overall, The B relay 7^th, C Relay 13^th and D relay 16^th.

Final Score:

Apple Valley 778      Edina 742     Winona 714 Minnetonka   488   Park 369

Next up for the Winhawks, they return to Big 9 action and travel to Austin for a dual meet with the Packers.

Winona Winhawks are close but not quite there yet, fall to Rochester Century 97-89.

I expect to see the following on the Marquee out in front of WSHS shortly.

Wanted - IM’ers and Distance swimmers. Occasional relay work possible but not required. Apply WSHS Pool 6AM & 4 PM daily.

Not that Steve Burt’s Winhawk team doesn’t have any IM'ers, he does. It is just that not many swim it willingly and could be used productively in other events. Same goes for the distance event, 500FR. Winona has some up and coming talent, but for the immediate future it is a problem. Both events are an Achilles heel for the Winhawks. Those two events were huge in determining tonight’s outcome.

Century was missing a few swimmers which hampered Coach Magnuson’s style. Also factoring in his lineup, he has some cross town foes (Mayo & JM) to deal with later in October and he would prefer to not show his entire hand this early in the season.

As predicted, all three relays were great races to watch with the 200’s being very close and the Winhawks pulling out the 400Fr.

The 200 Medley relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke, Freshman Reese Galewski and Freshman Hailey O’Neil gave it the good fight. Sam’s opening 100 back got the Winhawks a narrow 0.4 second lead. Alex was able to mostly hold off State Finalist Senior Claire Anderson surrendering 0.17 seconds. Reese went next and she too had a State Finalist swimmer to content with and it proved to be too much. Century’s Senior Jennifer Storm over took the lead by a mere 0.11seconds. The final leg was the battle of freshman and Haley swam the team’s second best anchor leg of the season but finished 2^nd by 0.12 seconds in 1:58.46.

Winona          4          Century  10

The 200 Freestyle, a sprint for some, mid-distance for many and distance for a few provided the crowd with two excellent races. The JV event was a back and forth affair with Freshman Greer Kosidowski taking the lead away from Century’s Claire Heins at the 50 and hanging onto it through the 75 only to be touched out by a tenth of a second. Her 2:19.91 was a nearly 4 second drop from her previous best time. The Varsity event featured standout Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan against Century’s Senior State Finalist Jennifer Storm. MacKenzie went out like she was on a mission turning a 3 tenths lead at the 50 into a 2 second lead by the 100 and continued to distance herself. She finished first in 2:00.19, 7 full seconds ahead of her competitor and a new season best by 2 seconds. Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski swam her season best to bring home another point in 5^th place.

Winona          11        Century  19

The 200IM was the first scoring stumbling block for the young Winhawks. Winona Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke swam her season best, but up against State Finalist Claire Anderson it was good for 2^nd place. The youngest swimmer in the event, 8^th Grader McKenzie Porter scored an additional point in 5^th for the Winhawks.

Winona          16        Century  30

The 50 Freestyle was also close as predicted. A quick up and back in the pool makes for a tough prediction and some results that could have easily been turned around. Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek was out touched by 2 one-hundredths to take 3^rd and Haley O’Neil improved on her season’s best to take 4^th.

 Winona         21        Century  41

At this point things were starting to look bleak. Had the Winhawk swimmers known what was going on at the Middle School, they would have perked up quicker. While the Winhawks used the Diving break to re-group their attitude, the divers were getting down to business. Winhawk Sophomore Crystal Franzwa scored another 1^st place racking up 192.15 points. Backing her up, Freshman Janelle Mueller was scoring her high of the season for 3^rdand Sophomore Megan Seeley finished right behind her in 4^th to help get the Winhawks right back in the meet.

Winona          32        Century  46

The 100 Fly was evidence that the Winhawks did indeed muster up some determination during the break. Facing Rochester’s Section Champ Claire Anderson, Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski went out hard making up time on Anderson in the second 50 to finish 2^nd in 1:04.22. Sr. Co-Captain Sam Quandahl finished right behind her in 3^rd and young Bluffview 7^th Grader Hannah O’Neil rounded out the scoring in 5^th inching ever closer to Rochester.

Winona          40        Century  54

As tough as the 50 was to swallow for the Winhawks ( only 5 points) the 100 was a major reversal. Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan and Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek went 1-2 and newcomer Lalita Charungchainanon brought home 4^th place for 12 huge points and the Panthers were in sight.

Winona          52        Century  58

Just as they were getting their spirits up, the 500 hit the Winhawks like a brick wall. A season weak spot, Coach Burt calls on Winhawk Freshman Haley O’Neil who swam her heart out improving her season best by 11 seconds that is good for 3^rd place. Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow swims a first time 500 Free in 6:31.79 good for 5^th place and Century’s lead extends again.

Winona          56        Century  70

The Winhawk 200 Free Relay lived up to its billing. Sensing they needed to try and bury the Winhawks, Century pulled together its best relay of the season. With Century leading by a mere 1 second after the first three legs, the anchors pitted against each other were Century’s Senior standout Claire Anderson against The Cotter/Winhawks go-to swimmer MacKenzie Brosnahan. MacKenzie makes up the second and then some against the Century Senior and the Winhawks win by 13 hundredths in 1:46.02. Century takes 3^rd as well.

Winona          64        Century  76

 The 100 Backstroke was Winhawk Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl's turn to take a run at one of the Century State Finalists. Pitted against Jennifer Storm, Sam gave it her all. Nearly surfacing AFTER the 15 meter mark and getting DQ’ed, she conceded ground early and them clawed back in the final 50 to take 2^nd in a season best 1:07.98. Behind her in 4^th was Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte besting the Century veteran Senior Hocraffer and swimming the 3^rd fastest  Winhawk 100 back this season.

Winona          70        Century  86

Where the IM and distance appear to have voids, the 100 Breaststroke looks to be a strong suit. The JV event saw all three Winhawks swim well. Freshman Greer Kosidowski won with Sr. Melanie Jones-McMillan bettering her season best followed by Cotter 7^th Grader Alex Arnold.  The Varsity Event featured Standout Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke winning with Sr. Taylor Johnson taking 3^rd and Lalita Charungchainanon placing 4^th for an 11-5 point edge. The 1-3-4 proved to be a great result too late as Century's 5 points put the meet just out of reach for the Winhawks. Even a 1-2 finish in the 400 Free relay would not score enough unless Rochester DQ’ed which was unlikely.

Winona          81        Century  91

Regardless of their destiny, the Winhawk A relay of Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Reese Galewski, Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan and Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke took their race out like the meet was on the line. Their winning time of 3:53.16 was good enough to enter the Winhawk record books as 8^th fastest ever!

Final Score

Winona(3-1, 2-1)          89        Century (3-0, 3-0)  97