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.