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.