Rebound - in sports, refers to the ball becoming freely available after a failed attempt to put it into the goal.

Or in swimming, a rebound is the ability to re-energize after a disappointing loss and have a great performance. 

The Winona Winhawks (4-3-0) (3-1-0) knew they had dropped the ball Tuesday night and let a win slip through their fingers. They had lost focus, recognized it and appear to have learned from it. 

Back into Big 9 competition, they were going to make up for lost ground and did so in a big way. The Owatonna Huskies  (0-6-0) (0-6-0) happened to be next in the schedule for The Winhawks, and timing proved to be a bad thing for the Huskies. 

They took their frustrations out on the Huskies who have had their share of troubles already. Winona won 9 of the 12 events asserting themselves wherever possible. Big time drops in mid-season are rare as the girls are working hard and competing multiple times a week. But tonight, drops were falling like a thermometer in January. 

The 200 Medley relay set the tone for the evening, Cotter Freshman Morgan Whyte, Cotter Sr., Co-Captain Alex Zuelke, Winona Juniors Reese Galewski and Haley O’Neill won in convincing fashion with plenty of room to spare. 

Their time was a few hundredths off their season low that was the 5^th fastest in Winona history.  The team of McKenna Marg, Greer Kosidowski, Hanna O’Neill, and Hailey Kronebusch placed third to add additional points to Winona’s big night. 

Huskies               4            Winona              10         

The 200 Freestyle was a great race to watch with Jr. Haley O’Neill taking the field out leading wire to wire. Morgan Whyte placed third and Winhawk Jr. Greer Kosidowsi had her breakout performance of the season bettering her personal best (PB) by OVER 5 seconds!!!! 

Huskies               9            Winona              21          

The 200 IM saw Reese Galewski take second and Sophomore McKenzie Porter take 5^th. 

Huskies               20          Winona              26

The 50 Freestyle was a great shot in the arm for Winona as Alex Zuelke and Cotter Junior Emily Thurow took 1-2 and a big 10 -6 edge in points.       

Huskies               26          Winona              36

 The diving took place over at the Winona Middle School where Sr. Co-Captain Crystal Franzwa asserted her presence with a commanding win, Winhawk Junior Janelle Muelller took 4^th and Winona’s Megan Seeley took 5^th for a huge 9 point tally.      

Huskies               33          Winona              45        

 

The 100 Butterfly was as dominating a performance as Jr. Reese Galewski put on this year. She won by nearly 5 seconds with Freshman Hanna O’Neill taking third in a PB over 2 seconds better than her last and Senior Samantha Johnson also touching in a PB and adding more scoring. 

Huskies               39          Winona              55          

The 100 Freestyle was another dominating performance by Jr. Haley O’Neill followed by Cotter Freshman Alex Arnold touching in 2^nd and Sr. Co-Captain Ashlen Haines swimming a PB of her own and adding to the point total in 5^th.

Huskies               44          Winona              66          

The 500 Freestyle was a great spectacle with four girls, two Winhawks and two Huskies side by side for the entire race. In the end, Razil Campbell touches 3^rd in a PB over 6 seconds less than her previous. McKenna Marg touches right behind her and McKenzie Porter rounds out the scoring to keep the Huskies at bay. 

 

Huskies               54          Winona              72         

The 200 Freestyle Relay was another convincing win for the Winhawks. The A relay of Haley O’Neill, Morgan Whyte, Emily Thurow, and Alex Zuelke were just off their 7^th fastest Winhawk time ever and the B relay of Hanna O’Neill, Alex Arnold, Sophomore Kailey Kronebusch and Razil Campbell add the points for 3^rd. 

Huskies               58          Winona              82          

The 100 Backstroke put the Winhawks over the top with Morgan Whyte touching first just off her personal best, McKenna Marg finishing 3^rd and Alex Arnold setting herself a PB in 4^th. 

Huskies               63          Winona              93          

The 100 Breaststroke was never in question, Sr. Co-Captain Alex Zuelke was in the zone and outpaced the field by nearly 5 seconds. Jr. Greer Kosidowski secured the 3^rd place points. IN true Big 9 fashion, the Winhawks exhibitioned their swimmers, deferring the points top Owatonna knowing the meet was already out of reach. 

Huskies               76          Winona              93          

The 400 Freestyle Relay was a side-by-side dual for each of the four swimmers in Winona’s and Owatonna’s A relays. It was a pleasure to watch and Owatonna touched out the Winhawks by 15 hundredths for the win. The Winona B relay of Sr. Co-Captain Ashlen Haines, 9^th grader Alexa Lofgren, Sr. Samantha Johnson and Freshman Ashley Brommerich take the 3^rd place finish. 

Final Scores

VARSITY   

Owatonna Huskies 88     Winona Winhawks 93    

          

JUNIOR VARSITY   

Owatonna Huskies 90  Winona Winhawks  85         

Big 9 Standings through 9/25

Big Nine Standings		Overall			Big 9
Teams	W	L	T	W	L	T
Rochester John Marshall	6	0	0	6	0	0
Rochester Mayo	4	1	0	4	1	0
Mankato West	4	2	0	3	2	0
Albert Lea	3	1	0	3	1	0
Winona H.S.	3	3	0	2	1	0
Faribault	2	4	0	1	3	0
Rochester Century	2	5	0	2	3	0
Austin High School	1	5	0	1	3	0
Mankato East/Loyola	1	5	0	0	4	0
Owatonna	0	5	0	0	5	0

Shake it off, re-focus and come out stroking!

The Winona Winhawks (3-3-0) (2-1-0) coming off of a mentally conceded loss return to Big 9 action hosting the Owatonna Huskies (0-5-0), (0-5-0). 

The Huskies under new coach Isaiah Fuller are finding themselves in one battle after another this year. After losing in the final relay to Rochester Century two weeks ago, the Huskies travelled to the Lakeville Invite swimming against Lakeville North, Lakeville South, Roch JM, Roch Mayo and others.  The following week they had to take on Big 9 leader Rochester JM and then 2^nd in the Big 9 standings Rochester Mayo in dual meets just four days apart. 

Suffice it to say that the Huskies might be a little beaten up, but also assume that they might just be a little tired of being at the bottom end of the event results. I would look to see the Huskies come in ready to reassert themselves as they start the end of season drive to conference and sections. 

The 200 Medley Relay looks like a healthy Winona should be able to handle this. The best Owatonna a posted this season is a 2 minute mid, the Winhawks have bettered that every meet this season. 

The 200 Freestyle will be a great race to watch. Huskie leader Mattie Shaver and Winhawk Jr. Haley O’Neill match up identically here. Although Shaver is an all-around swimmer that Fuller can plug in anywhere he sees the need. Winona will definitely need a high finish from its 2^nd & 3^rd finishers.

The 200 IM will have a number of Huskies that swim 2:26 – 2:32, times that will get Coach Steve Burt’s attention. 

The 50 Freestyle may be the next place the Huskies’ Shaver appears, swimming 25 mids pretty consistently. The only Winhawk better than that is Co-Captain Alex Zuelke and she may have been spent in the 200IM. Another threat is Huskie Madelyn Thein swimming 26 lows. 

Diving – Winhawk Crystal Franzwa will go up against Owatonna’s Kalley Schwab in a great match-up, but the consistency edge and home board advantage goes to Franzwa. 

100 Butterfly - Another place where star Huskie swimmer Shaver could appear she has carded a 1:04 mid. If not Winhawk Reese Galewski will be in the front and Young Hanna O’Neill may follow her right to the wall for a big total. 

100 Freestyle – If he doesn’t save Shaver for this one, look for the Winhawks to score big.

500 Freestyle – The Huskies Madelyn Thein has posted a 5:53 and Hanna Roberts at 6:06 which puts the event into play. Winona will need to counter with someone to prevent a lopsided score.

The 200 Fr Relay – Here the Huskies do well, swimming 1:45 – 1:46, so the Winhawks will need to put the A team in AND watch their starts.

The 100 Backstroke – The Huskies have a pair in Thein and Lydia Anez carding 1:08 & 1:10 respectively. Winhawks Morgan Whyte and McKenna Marg will have their hands full and should be a great race as we go down to the end.

The 100 Breaststroke – The Huskies Maria Versteeg should be no match for Sr. Co-Captain Alex Zuelke. Who takes 2^nd & 3^rd could make the final event a much more calm affair.

The 400 Free Relay – If the Winhawks can summon up the kind of performance they threw at Faribault, then this should determine the meet. If not, it could be close and help bring Owatonna out of the Big 9 standings cellar. 

Winona vs Owatonna - WSHS Pool 6PM Thursday

The demise of a meet.

Ok, in looking at the stats, for a “who cares this was crap” meet, there were some awesome times. 

DISCLAIMER - the timing system was started manually at the Starters whistle, just like a back-up stop watch. So in theory, they should be slower than actual, BUT, as you see below, that would make for some even quicker times. Comparing these times to the Team Asst stop watch times, they are not that far off.

The 200 A Medley Relay swam their 2^nd fastest of the year, only 13 hundredths off their best.

The 200 Free saw Haley O’Neill swim her best time of the year and Greer Kosidowski swam her best of the year by a full 3 seconds.

The 200IM Alex Arnold and McKenzie Porter swam at their season highs.

The 50 Free saw Alex Zuelke better her fastest this year by nearly a half second matching the state qualifying time and Ashley Brommerich was right at her season low. 

The 100 Butterfly had Reese Galewski swim her season low by over a second, and Sami Johnson swam her season best.

The 100 Freestyle had Haley O’Neill win with a season best time by over a half second as did Ashlen Haines.

The 500 Freestyle featured Reese Galewski after requesting to be entered for the second time in a week and swimming a faster time then her previous outing.  

It would appear that while the two 500 free heats were taking place, the team lost its edge. 

With the DQ in the 200 Free Relay, the team lost focus and times after that point were not bad, but nothing to write home about. 

As posted earlier, this is where PMA and leadership need to jump in and kick start a team headed south. 

The meet was salvageable, all that was needed was focus and a spark!

Next up – Big 9 foe Owatonna, Thursday, be there!

Some meets are a battle to get through to the end!

Not just the battle against the other team, that is always there. There is the battle to keep your head, and especially your heart, in the game through adversity. 

Tuesday night the Winona Winhawks were fighting battles on multiple fronts, and it eventually took its toll. Life is one long learning experience and if the Winhawks took anything from this “meet”, it is that stuff happens, and somewhere from the midst of the team, leaders have to emerge to shake their teammates from their funk and get them focused. This was a non-conference dual against a cross border team they see once every year or two. Next time, it will be a closer Big 9 foe, and they will need to be able to recognize the funk and correct it.  

Start with knowing that there are no divers and diving boards at the away pool so you’re leaving home A) some of your teammates, B) teammates that are typically on the plus side of the event points. Add in that you are leaving home 3 ill varsity swimmers, and have 3 more along that do not feel well or are injured. Depleted in numbers, you walk into your away competition venue to see it has a giant slide and a “you must be this high” alligator sign. You get into the water and it is "swimming lessons" warm. They tell you that the scoreboard is not working, so they will not be able to display times and results. They inform you that the timing system is working, but the starter box is not, so the Starter will have to shout “Take your mark” and use a whistle to start the races. Then the referee shows up wearing sandals because he doesn’t like getting his socks and shoes wet.  

After all that, you have a bunch of unmotivated swimmers that just want to get the meet over with regardless of outcome, rarely a recipe for a swimming victory. 

Onalaska Holmen has a respectable team, some very good swimmers, but they only had 15 bodies in the water, usually a tough row to hoe, but tonight, they had the mental edge. 

In spite of ALL that, the Winhawk girls started in the lead taking 1-3 in the 200 Medley Relay. 

Winona takes 2-4-5 in the 200 Free, letting OHA inch closer. 

Winona takes 3-4-6 in the 200 IM, allowing OHA to take the lead.

A 2-4-6 in the 50 Free allows OHA to pad their lead a little more and it is 28 – 34 Winona is down at the diving break.

After the break, some close finishes and no scoreboard meant I could no longer keep score. 

The Winhawks were in the thick of it, then the 200 Free A relay, with a 10 YARD LEAD, gets DQ’ed for an early leave. Instead of 1-2-4 the Winhawks get 1-3. Only a 6 point difference, but it did more damage to the psyche than the score. 

There were some good races after that, Reese’s gutty performance in the 500 Free for example.  

But in the end, the Winhawks, with all that has befallen them, loose only 90-80. 

No DQ and just one or two 2^nd instead of 3^rd places, and this could have been an eeked out win under very adverse circumstances, rather than a loss to be forgotten about. 

Yes, all life is a learning experience, including this one, hopefully.