Winhawks move up at 2010 Girls State Class AA Championships

As with all but the top few schools, Winona left the Championships thinking about what could have been. Considering what they had accomplished this year, and compared to some of their peers, their performance at the State Championships leave them a lot to be proud of.

The Winhawks repeated last years’ improvement on their Sections result. At Sections, Winona finished in 5^th place behind JM, Farmington, Century and Faribault, with Owatonna a close 6^th. Once the water had calmed at the 2010 State Championships, Winona leapfrogs Faribault and Century to place 20^th and Owatonna isn't swimming after the prelims are completed.  It was amazing to see that after Rochester JM so thoroughly dominated Sections, they could only move up one spot in the final standings between 2009 & 2010. It's not that their team did not swim well at State, JM had an entry in every event Saturday night except the 200IM and the 100 Breaststroke. It is just that those top 5 teams at State are so dominant themselves.

2010 State Championship Scores for Section 1 Teams

6. Rochester John Marshall     119

17. Farmington                           43  

20. Winona                                 34

23. Rochester Century               27  

25. Faribault                               25  

37. Rochester Mayo                     2

 

Winona moved up in score on the continuing improvement of Winona Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan and the strength of the other six girls, Senior Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Freshman Reese Galewski Junior Lalita Charungchainanon, Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke, Sr. Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, and Freshman Haley O’Neill making up the 200 Medley and the 200 Freestyle relays and their making it to Finals night. 

Recap

The Winhawks swam first in the Consolation Heat of the 200 Medley Relay. The Relay of Sr. Co-Captain Samantha Quandahl, Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke, Freshman Reese Galewski, and Junior Foreign Exchange Student Lalita Charungchainanon were seeded 8^th and swimming in Lane 8. The girls were in the race the entire way, all 8 teams finished within a body length of each other. In the end 4 teams bettered their time and 4 teams slipped a little. The Winhawks were seeded 16^th coming into the State Championships, seeded 16^th coming into the State Finals and ended up taking home the points for 16^th place. The Winhawks can take comfort in knowing that they leapfrogged over Rochester Century and Owatonna who, qualifying ahead of them at Sections, were listed as the alternates for the relay in 17^th and 18^th place respectively.

Winona Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan was up next in the Finals of the 50 Freestyle. Swimming as the 6^th seed out of Lane 7, Kenzie was in the thick of the pack at the turn. At the touch pad Kenzie is just out touched where 5^th ,6^th ,& 7^th were separated by 7 one hundredths of a second. In prelims MacKenzie solidified her hold on the 2^nd fastest Winhawk 50 Free ever with a 24.11. Tonight she and the others in 5 – 8^th place are a hair off their prelim times and Kenzie finishes 7^th.

After the Diving which I must interject was AWESOME, came the Winhawks next Finals appearance, Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan in the 100 Freestyle. Kenzie was seeded 7^th after lowering her Section seed time from 53.04 to 52.78. MacKenzie was a hair out of 5^th at the 50 split and faded going into the last 15 yards slipping back to 7^th just as she started. MacKenzie’s 52.78 lowered her time while already holding the 3^rd fastest Winhawk 100 Free of all time that she obtained at Sections.  

Last up for the Winhawks was the Relay team of Cotter Sophomore Alexandra Zuelke leads off followed by Senior Co-Captain Bridget Bawek, Freshman Haley O’Neill and anchored by Cotter Junior MacKenzie Brosnahan. Four 50 freestyles means tenths of seconds add up to multiple places up or down. The Winhawks enter  the event seeded 14^th. With their Section 1 Friends/Foes Rochester JM in Lane 6 next to them, the Winhawks are aided by Haley O’Neil’s fastest 50 split ever and they better their hold on the 4^th fastest Winhawk 200 Free Relay ever. The 1:40.10 moves them up into 13^th place.

The Winhawks complete a very successful season. The six swimmers that qualified for State are also responsible for 18 new entries on the All Time Fastest Winhawk swims list. A new entry or move up the list was accomplished in every stroke and relay the Winhawks swim. The 2010 Winhawks finished the dual meet season at 7-3. They defeated Faribault in a dual meet for the first time in 18 years, they were 3^rd at the Big 9 Conference Meet, 5^th at the Section 1AA meet and as stated earlier, the Winhawks finish their 2010 season in 20^th place at the MSHSL Class AA Championships.