The Power of the Mall of America channeled into a trophy?

Where does motivation originate? Maybe it was the camaraderie of the 2+ hour ride on a regular school bus. Maybe it was the fact that the swimmers did not have to get up before the sun like the divers. Maybe it was the divers knowing they would get home and still have some Saturday left to play. Maybe it was knowing that they were within a mere 10 miles of the Mall of America and there was no way Coach Burt would get sucked into taking them there.

Whatever the motivation was, the Winhawks put some great performances together and walked out of the Apple Valley Invitational with the trophy for Second Place. 

The Apple Valley Invitational is a seeded, timed final event. So Coach Burt submitted his line-up with seed times ahead of time and the Winhawks were salted amongst the other swimmers from Apple Valley, Edina, and Robbinsdale Cooper over 3 sometimes 4 heats of swimming. Divers were drawn by lot but the meet was run as a Championship event, meaning you had to have the full list of 11 required and optional dives to perform. Regardless of which heat you swam or order you dove, the final times and diving scores are ranked from best on down and points are awarded from 16 points for 1^st to 1 point for 16^th place. Relays are done the same way but worth double the points. Every team is entry limited so the opportunity to score is equal and each individual event has 136 points up for grabs, Relays at double the points have 272. In theory an even field would split 4 ways and a team should average 34 points in individual events and 68 on a relay.

The opening event had the Winhawks throwing 20 swimmers at the event. The “E” Relay swam as exhibition. The D relay of Winhawks Freshman Liz Strecher, Senior Co-Captain Sam Berg, 7^th Grader Elora Olson and Bluffview 8^th Grader Ashley Brommerich was seeded 14^th and moved up one spot to 13^th. The “C” Relay of Cotter 8^th Grader Morgan Whyte, matched with the Winhawks Sophomore Razil Campbell, Junior Samantha Johnson and Sophomore Greer Kosidowski improved the 12^th seed up to 9^th overall. The Winhawk “B: Relay of Cotter swimmers Sophomore McKenna Marg and 8^th Grader Alexandra Arnold paired with Bluffview 8^th Grader Hanna O’Neill and Winhawk Sophomore Abbey Quandahl also improved on their seed, from 8^th up to 6^th. Lastly the Winhawk “A” Relay of Cotter swimmers Senior Mackenzie Brosnahan and Junior Alexandra Zuelke, Swimming with Winhawk Sophomores Reese Galewski and Hailey O’Neill went in seeded 2^nd and pulled out the victory and 1^st place points!

Winhawks score 78 points and lead the meet.

The 200 yard freestyle leads off with Brommerich filling in for the injured Co-Captain Kayla Berg and working into the scoring in 16^th while Morgan Whyte places 14^th. Then the Winhawks Sophomore workhorses, ( and I mean that in the most flattering way as they had JUST finished helping win the Medley Relay 10 minutes earlier) Haley O’Neill and Reese Galewski finish 3 - 4 respectively and the Winhawks add 31 points to their total. 

Winhawks add 31 more points.

The 200 IM continues to be a MAJOR bright spot for Coaches Burt and Schulz. A definite weak spot last season, this meet again saw stellar performances out of the Winhawks. Moving up from 14^th seed to finish in 10^th place is Winhawk Sophomore Razil Campbell as she CARVES 9 seconds off her seed time and approaches an all-time personal best.  Cotter Sophomore McKenna Marg maintains her 9^th seed in the race and Winhawk Freshman McKenzie Porter, perhaps additionally inspired by her big (graduated) sister Mallory being on deck, drops 5 ½ seconds off her prior personal best to convert her 10^th seed into a solid 8^th place finish. Then in the final heat, Cotter Junior standout Alexandra Zuelke drops 5 seconds off her seed time to move up from 4^th seed to finish 2^nd. 

Winona score 39 more points.

The 50 Freestyle sees ALL Winhawks beat their seed except Mackenzie Brosnahan. The Cotter Senior can’t improve on her seed as she was seeded 1^st to begin with. Kronebusch moves up to 11^th from 13^th. Arnold improves her 10^th seed to 8^th place. Cotter Sophomore Emily Thurow jumps from 7^th seed all the way to 4^th seed and as for Brosnahan, Mackenzie wins the event with over a half a second to spare. 

Winhawks score 44 big points.

The Diving event took place in the morning, which meant A) the divers had to get up in the wee hours of the morning in the dark, and B) diving was done long before the swimmers arrived on site. Originally projected to have 17 divers there were only 10 competing when they took to the boards. They performed an 11 dive championship list, meaning they have to perform the 5 voluntary dives, (Front, back, inward, reverse and twisting) along with 6 optional dives where 5 of the 6 have to be from each of the five groups mentioned before. Confused yet? A diver must also be adept at performing these dives. If the Diving Referee deems a diver did not make an earnest attempt at a dive on their list, they can be disqualified from the event. Hence the rule prevents a diver that hates Reverse dives from just jumping off the board for that dive and performing the other 10 as required and still scoring points. The Winhawks performed well with 8^th grader Sarah Scherbring scoring in 9^th place with a respectable 189.80. Sophomore Janelle Mueller came out of her shell in a big way improving on her personal best score by nearly 50 points and finishing in 3^rd with no one around her at 261.10. Lastly Junior Crystal Franzwa not to be out shone improves on her prior best by over 40 points and finishes second to last year’s 6^th place finisher at the MN Class AA State Championships. 

The Winhawks add 37 point sot their overall total. 

The 100 Butterfly has 3 Winhawks improving on their seeds. Junior Samantha Johnson moves up from 12^th seed to finish 10^th. Bluffview 8^th Grader Hanna O’Neill drops 2 ½ seconds off her best time of the season and is just tenths off a personal best moving from 8^th seed all the way up to 5^th place. The 100 Butterfly event though belonged to Winhawk Sophomore Reese Galewski. Seeded first Reese walked, or rather swam away from the field to touch nearly 2 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. 

Winhawks score another 35 points.

The 100 Freestyle sees Strecher move up to finish 15^th from the 20^th seed. Kronebusch improves her 13^th seed up to 9^th place. Thurow is pushed hard to maintain her 4^th seed but swims a new personal best time in the process and Brosnahan, making it look effortless, finishes ahead of the field by nearly 5 seconds or 6 body lengths. 

Add 39 points to the Winhawk total. 

The 500 yard freestyle sees Newcomer 8^th Grader Natasha Lewis scoring her first points in 16^th place. Campbell improves on her 14^th seed to finish in 9^th overall. Sophomore Greer Kosidowski finds herself in yet ANOTHER neck-and-neck 500 freestyle. She and her competitor in the next lane are locked together for ALL 20 lengths. Kosidowski finishes 8^th overall.  Finishing in 3^rd is Sophomore Haley O’Neill just a half second off her personal best. 

Winhawks score 32 points.

The 200 Freestyle relay, 4 down and back dashes, has the Winhawk “C” relay finish 9^th, the “B” Relay anchored by Greer Kosidowski who had just finished the 500 free finishes 5^th, and the “A” Relay of Zuelke, O’Neill ( who had also just finished the 500), Thurow and Brosnahan win the Relay with a second to spare. 

Winhawks score 72 points

The 100 Backstroke was the only event that Winona did not enter their full 4 entries due to injuries. That being said, Porter maintained her 11^th seed as a finish but Cotter 8^th grader Morgan Whyte carved nearly 3 seconds off her seed and moved from 12^th  seed up to finish in 5^th place. Also shining brightly, Cotter Sophomore McKenna Marg swims a personal best and slingshots herself from 8^th seed up to finish 4^th overall. 

The three Winhawks amass 31 points on their own.

The 100 Breaststroke was probably the best race of the day to watch. Senior Co-Captain Samantha Berg moves up from her 14^th seed to finish 12^th. Winhawk newcomer, 8^th Grader Nina Sugaya filling in for the injured Senior Co-Captain Kayla Berg swims her personal best to take 11^th. Arnold swims her way to 9^th overall and Cotter Junior Alex Zuelke pushes Apple Valley Standout and State meet finalist in 4 events Delaney McDonald all the way to finish a half second off in 2^nd place. 

Winhawks take 34 points. 

The 400 Freestyle Relay sees an exhausted group of Winhawks finish 14^th, 10^th, 7^th and 2^nd overall to add 70 points to the overall total and bring home the trophy for 2^nd place in the 2011 Apple Valley Invitational. 

The next Winhawk swimming action is Thursday September 22, against Rochester Century at Rochester Mayo.