Thursday evening last was the night of the Annual Big 9 JV Swim Meet. It is held annually two days before the Big 9 Conference Championships. As the Varsity Big 9 limits teams to 4 entries per event, many swimmers would be done with their season after the final dual meet, hence the Big 9 JV. One last wet hurrah of the season for many of the swimmers as after this they will be cheering on their teammates in dry clothes.
I was offered the pleasure to officiate the meet. When I arrived at Owatonna Junior High the pool had an overwhelming hype in the air. These girls were here to do their thing; they weren’t the “preliminary heat” or swimming alone or with a half full pool. They were going to be racing and diving against their peers and had every intention of making the most of it.
Winona’s A 200 Medley Relay was seeded 2nd behind Austin. The Medley is a back and forth affair due to the different strokes. When the water stilled Winona A had dropped 3 seconds off their seed and finished in 1st by two body lengths. Winona B in the prior heat had held their seed and also won their heat moving them up to 6 place overall.
The 200 Freestyle had all the makings of a Varsity Big 9 event; it was competitive, dramatic and just plain fun to watch. In the 3rd of 4 heats, Winhawk Jr. Kayla Berg and Freshman Morgan Crowson were seeded 7th and 9th respectively which also meant they were swimming side-by-side in lanes 3-4. Kayla took the heat out strong, distancing herself from her teammate and the rest of the pack, daring them to follow. Morgan, after falling back nearly 3 body lengths decided to not surrender. She chased after Kayla with a vengeance slowly catching her over the next 4 pool lengths. With 25 yards to go she was just off Kayla’s waist and with one last push pulled up to her as they approached the end. Kayla reacted trying to preserve the win but Megan’s momentum was too much to fend off and Morgan touched out Kayla by 18 one hundredths of a second for her fastest 200 Free ever. It was an AWESOME race and their efforts vaulted them all the way up the standings to 3rd & 4th respectively!
The 200 IM has been a tough event for Winona all season, having to give up an entry elsewhere to plug someone competitive in. Thursday night gave Winona fans a reason to look to the future. Winhawk Sophomore Samantha Johnson and Freshman Razil Campbell finished 1-2 with Cotter Freshman Valeria Bautista-Ruis coming in 8th.
The 50 Freestyle was Winhawk Sophomore Ashlen Haines’ coming out party. Seeded 7th, she went under 30 for the first time and leapfrogged up to 4th in a personal best 29.74. Samantha Berg also swam a personal best moving up five spots from her seed.
The Divers for brevity sake, as there were over 20 of them entered, were only allowed 4 dives. Sophomore Shelby Hengel made the most of her selected 4 finishing in a solid 4th place. Winhawk Senior Mallory Porter had switched from a lifetime of swimming to diving for her final year. Learning a Forward 1 ½ ss Tuck just the day before the meet, Mallory dove to the screams and cheers of her long time teammates and a much deserved 11th place.
The 100 Butterfly was the second chapter of Winhawk Sophomore Ashlen Haines’ highlight reel Thursday night. She was dominating as she stroked to a two body length lead for the convincing win. It was a personal best time and the 5th butterfly in a row that she had improved her time. Winhawk Sophomore Samantha Johnson was right behind her swimming to 3rd in her fastest time in two weeks.
The 100 Freestyle had 13 heats of girls trying to finish off their season on the right note. We watched heat after heat of girls dropping 3 and even 4 seconds off their seed times. As we approached the final heats, the girls were having a harder time shaving off that kind of time, until the last heat. Winhawk Freshman Greer Kosidowski was having fun behind the blocks and looked relaxed. She was seeded 3rd so was next to the low seed in 4 from Faribault. Greer went out with her hard and it was neck and neck the four lengths. They out distanced the field and finish two body lengths ahead. Greer drops over 2 seconds off her seed and, swimming it for the first time, finishes 2nd just touched out by 16 one hundredths.
The 500 Freestyle is the un-liked cousin of a swim meet entry. When the coach looks for volunteers, swimmers look down and turn their heads. Thursday night was no exception as Winhawk Freshman Razil Campbell, who has swum it ten times this season was the only Winona entry. She was seeded 3rd, which, like her teammates before her, puts her next to the top seed from Faribault whose entry is 8 seconds faster. They go off the blocks and Razil sticks to her like that same annoying cousin that won’t go away. Through the first 10 lengths, Razil stays close clawing to maintain with the Faribault Sophomore. Razil finishes up a mere 4 seconds behind swimming a personal best and placing 2nd overall.
The 200 Free Relay was Winona’s from the start. The only team seeded less than 2 minutes, they improved on that and finished two body lengths ahead of Austin.
The 100 Back was also thin in Black and Orange with Jr. Kayla Berg the only entrant. She swam to a solid 5th place finish.
The 100 Breaststroke, the last individual event of a meet always has that “we’re almost done” edginess to it. Not so much this evening, the girls were savoring this. The top seed, Winhawk Sophomore Greer Kosidowski is behind the blocks and looking relaxed and having fun, again. She had a 7 second edge in seed time and from when she left the blocks she showed that it was not a typo. She led wire-to-wire and finished with nearly 20 feet to spare. Winhawk Jr. Samantha Berg finished in 4th to round out the Winhawk scoring.
Winona did not have a 400 Free Relay entry. Head Coach Steve Burt had elected to make 3 entries in both the 200 Medley and 200 Free Relays. With no bodies left the Winhawks celebrated some great swims, took group photos and reveled in a well swum AND last meet of a very fun season while the rest of the teams swam away!
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