Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce. ~Vivian Komori

Supreme Court Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round.  Trouble creates a capacity to handle it.  I don't embrace trouble; that's as bad as treating it as an enemy.  But I do say meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.”

In swimming terms, that means there are nearly 300,000 swimmers belong to USA Swimming, yet ONE swimmer, is the fastest in each event. So do you quit, or do you keep training and improving to get to be the best YOU can be. 

I knew when I finished writing Monday’s Blog, there may be some negative sentiments. Instead of hooraying the Winhawks and saying “dig deep you could pull the big upset here”, I chose to type what was a given. That the JM Rockets are a strong and talented team and would most likely prevail in a dual meet. That doesn’t mean you don’t show up. That doesn’t mean you don’t swim your hardest and strive for improvement.

That being said, Tuesday night was a great meet. The Winhawks (3-3, 2-3) swam hard. The Rockets (6-0, 6-0) mixed up their events, putting swimmers in events they typically don’t swim. The results were some great races and a pretty close score compared to what it might have been.

The 200 Medley Relay had the Winhawk “A” Relay swim just hundredths off their best of the season to take second place finish. 

Winhawks        4          Rockets           10

The 200 Freestyle saw Winhawk Sophomore Haley O’Neill swim to a solid 2^nd place finish with Cotter Sophomore McKenna Marg taking 5^th and Winhawk Junior Samantha Johnson swimming a new Personal Best to take 6^th.

Winhawks        9          Rockets           21

The 200 IM brought Cotter Alexandra Zuelke to the blocks where she swam just a hair off her season best to take 2nf Place. Right behind her in 3^rd was Winhawk Reese Galewski and taking scoring in 5^th place Winhawk Freshman McKenzie Porter.

Winhawks        17        Rockets           29

The 50 Freestyle sees Cotter Senior MacKenzie Brosnahan shine winning in her best non-relay 50 of the season. Cotter Sophomore Emily Thurow was just hundredths off her personal best in taking 3^rd place.           

Winhawks        26        Rockets           36

Diving should have been for all of us to watch but alas it was being held at the Middle School. Why you ask, because the Winhawks were one of the brightest spots of the evening. Winhawk 7^th Grader Claire Conway won the JV Diving event. The Varsity Winhawk divers, Junior Crystal Franzwa, Sophomore Janelle Mueller and Freshman Sara Scherbring placed 1-2-3 respectively with Sara scoring a new personal best total! The sweep brings the Winhawks into a tie!

Winhawks        39        Rockets           39

The 100 Butterfly was a beautiful race to watch. Winhawk Sophomore Reese Galewski cruised to the win in a new season best time. Bluffview 8^th Grader Hanna O’Neill brought home the score for 5^th place.

Winhawks        46        Rockets           48

The 100 Freestyle brought Brosnahan back to the blocks and she dominated winning the Sprint event by nearly 2 full seconds. Haley O’Neill brought home 3^rd place for Winona. 

Winhawks        55        Rockets           55

The 500 Freestyle was the one place the Rockets could and would stick it to the Winhawks. The Rockets jumped out to big 1^st and second place swims. The remainder of the field including Winhawk Sophomore Greer Kosidowski, Freshman McKenzie Porter and Sophomore Razil Campbell went the 500 yards in a virtual line across the pool. They ended up taking 4-5-6 with Porter and Campbell swimming new Personal Best times by 1 ½ seconds and dropping 8 seconds off of their season best times. 

Winhawks        58        Rockets           68

The 200 Freestyle Relay was won by the Winhawks in a time that was reflective of the season to date. The “B” Relay of McKenna Marg, Abbey Quandahl, Alex Arnold and  Hanna O'Neill, take 3rd

Winhawks        68        Rockets           72

The 100 Backstroke wasn’t much for point but had some major milestones for the Winhawks. Cotter Sophomore McKenna Marg swam a new personal best taking 3^rd place. Both Cotter swimmers Morgan Whyte taking 5^th and Alex Arnold taking 6^th swam season’s best times ( it was Arnold first 100 back of the year)

Winhawks        72        Rockets           84

The 100 Breaststroke was a great race start to finish. Cotetr Junior Zuelke was should to shoulder with the Rockets’ Lauren Kalwasinski then entire way. She got touched out but was a warded the win when Kawasinski was DQ’ed for using an asynchronous touch in her turns. Cotter Sophomore Emily Thurow swimming the breast for only the second time this year swims a new personal best in taking 3^rd and Kosidowski finishes the scoring in 5^th.

Winhawks        82        Rockets           90

The 400 Freestyle Relay had the Rockets power to the win with the Winhawks taking 2^nd & 3^rd.

Winhawks        88        Rockets           98

Final Scores

Junior Varsity

Winhawks        53        Rockets           112

Senior Varsity

Winhawks        88        Rockets           98