Winona Winhawk Girls too deep for the Tigers

The Winhawk Girls’ Swimmers & Divers trekked to Albert Lea for a Big 9 Dual meet Thursday Night.

The Albert Lea Tigers are a young squad and had fewer bodies to draw from than the more experienced Winona Winhawks. Add up those two factors and the Winhawks walked out of the Albert Lea pool with a third win under their belt.

Winona won all but one event, and dominated the relays for a comfortable lead by the 100 Breaststroke event. Making the evening even more notable was Head Coach Steve Burt switching up a lot of event entries, placing his Winhawks in events they typically don’t race.

The Winhawk Medley relay of Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke, Freshman Reese Galewski and Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek set the meet tone right out of the gate. Their 1:57.99 not only left the Tigers behind; it moved this group of girls up the list to the fastest in 5 seasons and the 6^th fastest Winhawk Medley Relay ever.

Winona     10                        Albert Lea      4

The 200 Freestyle was a hard fought race wire to wire. Swimming a rare 200 Freestyle, breaststroke and IM standout Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke turned in the second fastest Winhawk time in two years but was touched out by 15 hundredths for the win. Typically a Sprinter, Haley O’Neill turned in a solid performance to bring home 3^rd place. Freshman Greer Kosidowski improved by a second and a half on her best time to score for the Winhawks in 5^th.

Winona    19             Albert Lea      11

The 200 Individual Medley event was all Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski. She swam her best 200 IM ever taking 1^st with body lengths to spare. Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill showed real determination touching out her Tiger foe by a mere one second for 4^th place and an even split of event points.

Winona    27             Albert Lea      19

The 50 Free Style was another entry switch up with Coach Burt placing Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan in the 2 length dash for the first time all season. Kenzie didn’t disappoint him taking first with room to spare. Her 24.90 was the fastest 50 Free in 2 ½ years for the Winhawks. Scoring good points right behind her were Sr. Taylor Johnson in 3^rd and just touching out the Tiger chasing her, Cotter 8^th Grader Morgan Whyte in 4^th.

Winona    38             Albert Lea      24

Diving continued the Winhawks’ winning ways with Crystal Franzwa going back above the 200 point barrier. Her 202.65 had plenty of room after the Tiger’s Karli Kriewall had a failed dive in attempting her Reverse 1 1/2ss. Winhawks Janelle Mueller and Megan Seeley combined for 3^rd and 5^th respectively

Winona    48             Albert Lea      30

The 100 Yard Butterfly pretty much put the Winhawks in the driver’s seat.  Winhawk Freshman Reese Galewski won her second individual event of the evening while swimming another personal best time. Her 1:02.43 solidified her hold on the 5^th fastest Winhawk 100 fly ever! Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl scored a solid 2^nd place with two body lengths to spare and young Bluffview 7^th Grader Hanna O’Neill bested the final two Tigers for 4^th and a huge 12-4 event point score for the Winhawks!

Winona    60             Albert Lea      34

The 100 Freestyle, the other splash and dash of the evening was a return sprint trip for Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan. Her winning 53.87 was only a hair off her 3^rd fastest Winhawk time ever of 53.42 and good for a standout win. Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek  was touched out and placed 3^rd swimming her fastest of the season so far and Cotter 8^th Grader Morgan Whyte finished the scoring placing a solid 4^th well ahead of the final two Tigers.

Winona    71             Albert Lea      39

The 500 Freestyle entries continue to resemble a revolving door for the Winhawks as different ‘Hawks enter it each meet. This time the normally sprinting Freshman Haley O’Neill was sent to the blocks by Head Coach Steve Burt and she did not disappoint. It was a hard fought, neck and neck, just a hair behind, 6 minute long battle. After 19 lengths of the pool, Haley surged at the end to touch out the Tiger’s Morgan Field by 0.07 seconds. Cotter Jr. Grace Ell also swimming distance for the first time this year brought home the points for 4^th place and another 8-8 event point split.

Winona    79             Albert Lea      47

The 200 Free Relay continued tipping the points scale in favor of the Winhawks. Albert Lea had stacked their relay hoping to put a stop to the Winhawks scoring streak. Thus inspired, the A relay of Sr. Taylor Johnson, Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Haley O'Neill, and Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan, took charge and finished nearly 2 seconds ahead of the Tigers. Their 1:46.07 cumulative splashes moved them up the All time Winhawk swim list from 11^th to 8^th place. Making their presence known as well, the 2^nd Winhawk relay of Cotter 7^th Grader Morgan Whyte, Cotter Freshman Emily Thurow, Cotter 7^th Grader Alex Arnold, and Cotter Jr. Grace Ell swim a solid 1:58.58 to edge out the Tigers B Relay by more than two seconds.

Winona    89             Albert Lea      51

The 100 Backstroke was the final brush stroke of a well painted victory. A 1-2 finish by Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl and Cotter Freshman McKenna Marg kicked the meet scoring into “Big 9 Exhibition rules”.  The Winhawks had the 96 points necessary to win the contest.

Winona    96             Albert Lea      60

The 100 Breaststroke was more of the same with Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke, Senior Taylor Johnson and Freshman Greer Kosidowski going for a solid performance and 1-3-5 finish. In spite of knowing the meet was in the bag Johnson gave the lead Tiger swimmer all she could handle getting touched out at the end.

Winona    96             Albert Lea      73

The 400 Free Relay is the final race of the night and sets a tone for the ride home. Already won or not, the girls are going to go out and have fun AND bring home a win if they have any say in it. Sr. Co-Captains Bridget Bawek and Samantha Quandahl with Fr. Reese Galewski teamed with Cotter Jr. MacKenzie Brosnahan on the A relay. Albert Lea had already thrown every thing they could at the Winhawks earlier in the meet and had few bodies left to compete. The Winhawk A relay won by nearly 2 lengths of the pool in 4:03.17. The Winhawk B relay was equally formidable made up of the Cotter threesome of 8^th Grader Morgan Whyte, Freshmen McKenna Marg and Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke joined by Freshman Haley O'Neill, they too beat out the Tiger A relay taking 2^nd in 4:21.45.

Winona    96             Albert Lea      85

Winona (3-0)             Albert Lea (0-2)

Next up is a Home meet on September 16th against Rochester Century (2-0).