The Winona Winhawks (6-5-1), (4-3-1) were loose, were
upbeat, were, taking on the 6th ranked team in the state?
Yes, the Rochester Mayo Spartans (6-1-1), (6-1-1) strolled
into the WSHS Pool looking to cap their dual meet season and start preparations
for Big 9. Mayo was ranked number 6 in the last state wide coaches poll. Everyone
knew it, everyone was expecting the same outcome, including me.
Fact, the Winhawks had an assumption of status toward the Spartans
and were accepting of it.
Fact, the Winhawks have come a LONG way to understanding themselves
and knowing that they only have control over their own performance.
Fact, their calm and their poise have also now allowed them
to realize after tonight that, on any given night……..
The 200 Medley Relay set the tone, starting with the Winhawk
JV’ers. The teams of Lofgren, O’Neill, Strecher and Kolaas, followed by
Crowson, Kronebusch, Everitt, and Alsen, go 1-2. The Varsity leaves the blocks
looking like an energized bunch one after another. Led off by Morgan Whyte, she
touches first by 4 one hundredths sending Sr. Co-Captain Alex Zuelke to stretch
things out. Alex rockets to a 4 ½ second lead. Reese Galewski takes off staring
at her competition still coming at her. She doesn’t let up, she adds to the lead
by a full second plus. Jr. Haley O’Neill takes to the water and brings them
home padding the lead even more by her final touch. Behind her, the Winhawk B
Relay is fighting the bigger battle. Alone in Lane 2, the team of Marg,
Kosidowski, O’Neill and Thurow have the distant Mayo entry in Lane 5 to hold
off. Leaving the blocks in 3rd with less than a second to spare,
Thurow holds off the charging Spartans and the Winhawks score in 1st
& 3rd.
Mayo JV 2 Winona JV 12
Mayo Varsity 4 Winona Varsity 10
The 200 Freestyle saw a superb JV performance out of 8th
grader Elly Olsen. Swimming it for the first time, she goes negative split on
the two final 50’s and comes in strong touching in 2nd. The Varsity was
a 1-2-5 finish for an edge in scoring, with Haley O’Neill, Morgan Whyte and
Hanna O’Neill respectively.
Mayo JV 11 Winona JV 19
Mayo Varsity 9 Winona Varsity 21
The 200 IM was a mayo event and let them climb back into the
meet. Winona finishes 3-4-6 in JV and 3-4-5 in Varsity.
Mayo JV 22 Winona JV 24
Mayo Varsity 19 Winona Varsity 27
The 50 Freestyle saw personal bests by Kailee Alsen and Alana
Everitt as they finished behind Ashley Brommerich who was just off her PB. The
Varsity was a quality showing for the Winhawks, Alex Zuelke touches second just
one tenth off the leader, Emily Thurow is right behind her hundredths off her
personal best and Sr. Sami Johnson, swimming the splash and dash for her first
time this season touches in a personal best (compared to her 4x50 split) by
almost a full 2 seconds.
Mayo JV 29 Winona JV 33
Mayo Varsity 27 Winona Varsity 35
During the diving break, it appeared that the Winhawks were
just catching on to the fact that they were not just in this meet, they had a
good lead and knew the diving results would pad it further. They were right, Crystal Franzwa got back on
her winning ways and she was followed by Sarah Scherbring in 3rd
place and Janelle Mueller in 4th place.
Mayo JV 29 Winona JV 43
Mayo Varsity 32 Winona Varsity 46
The 100 Butterfly JV saw a magnificient swim by Kailey
Kronebusch, setting a PB by 2 full seconds and winning by 5. Liz Strecher
placed 2nd and Sela Kosidowski swam a personal best as well! The
Varsity saw Reese Galewski, Hanna O’Neill and Sami Johnson go 2-4-5.
Mayo JV 36 Winona JV 52
Mayo Varsity 41 Winona Varsity 53
The 100 Freestyle JV had Ashley Brommerich touching 2nd,
Kailee Alsen setting a PB in 3rd and Elly Olsen also setting a PB scoring
in 5th. The Varsity saw Haley O’Neill place 2nd, Alex
Arnold in 4th and Greer Kosidowski in 5th.
Mayo JV 44 Winona JV 60
Mayo Varsity 50 Winona Varsity 60
The 500 Freestyle was a great race to watch. The Winhawks JV’ers
placed 4-5 with Sela Kosidowski swimming a PB. The Varsity event had some great
entertainment, watching Reese Galewski and Razil Campbell pace each other in Lanes 2 & 4 to
personal best for each of them. Reese went below 6 minutes for the first time
and Razil did it for the second time in a week.
Mayo JV 57 Winona JV 63
Mayo Varsity 58 Winona Varsity 68
The 200 Free Relay JV was a great Winona show. The JV A
relay of Morgan Crowson, Elly Olsen, Harper O’Neill and Alana Everitt finish first
with a quarter pool length of pad. The tough race was behind them, the B relay
of Sela Kosidowski, Natasha Lewis, Liz Strecher, and Jenna Kronebusch touch out
Mayo by 2 tenths of a second for the final points. The Varsity was a good test
of wills, the line-up got shuffled trying to save some strength for the 4x100, and
try to hold off the Mayo big guns. In the end, Akex Zuelke, Hanna O’Neill, Emily
Thurow and Alex Arnold tried to fend off their counterparts but touching in
second. It was a big gamble to take, as Mayo climbs right back into the picture
scoring big.
Mayo JV 61 Winona JV 73
Mayo Varsity 68 Winona Varsity 72
The 100 Backstroke sees Morgan Crowson swim a PB and Kennedy
Kolaas swim it for the first time. The Varsity gets a HUGE 1-2 finish by Morgan
Whyte and McKenna Marg. McKenna went out strong and hung on to out-touch her
competition by 7 one hundredths of a second! Winona gets to pad their lead a little!
Mayo JV 72 Winona JV 78
Mayo Varsity 74 Winona Varsity 82
The 100 Breaststroke sees JV Winhawk Jenna Kronebusch swim a
PB placing 2nd followed by Kylie Lemmer in 4th and Jaynie
Olsen in 5th. Alex Zuelke takes a solid win in the Varsity followed
by Greer Kosidowski and Harper O’Neill in 5-6 respectively.
Mayo JV 83 Winona JV 89
Mayo Varsity 81 Winona Varsity 85
BOTH JV and Varsity come down to the final relay. The JV’ers
need to take 1st or 2 and 3rd
to guarantee the win. As for Varsity, if they win the relay, they win the meet.
If they take 2nd they have to take 3rd also to win. If Mayo
takes 1st and 2nd Mayo wins. IF, Mayo takes 1st
& 3rd, then Winona takes 2nd, THE MEET ENDS IN A TIE.
The Winona JV’ers decide to take it to the water, Natasha
Lewis leads out and comes in a hair off the lead. Liz Strecher takes off in 2nd
and gets back a chunk in the first 50. She hangs on to give Elly Olsen a clear
shot ONLY BEHIND by an arm length. Elly makes up a tenth on the first 50 and another 4
tenths on the second 50. She hands Alexa Lofgren a fair shot to pull the relay
out. Alexa claws back the one second deficit in the first 50. The girls come
down to the wire side-by-side. Alexa maintains her momentum and out touches
Mayo by 7 one hundredths of a second for the win AND the JV meet win!
The Winona Varsity knew what it had to do. Take AT LEAST 2nd
and they tie the 6th best team in the State. The team of Alex Arnold,
Reese Galewski, Morgan Whyte and Haley O’Neill, are out gunned by the Mayo A Relay
powerhouses still left to swim. As a reference, the girls touch almost 6 behind in 2nd BUT swimming one
hundredth of a second off the 12th fastest Winhawk 4x100 ever and
the fastest time all year. The B relay of Emily Thurow, McKenzie Porter,
McKenna Marg and Greer Kosidowski with the win in their minds swim a valiant race. Emily hands them
a lead but they cannot hold onto it. Greer tries to make up ground in the last
50 gaining almost 2 seconds but there wasn’t enough room and the girls finish 4th. THE MEET ENDS IN A TIE!
FINAL SCORES
Rochester Mayo JV 87 Winona
JV 93
Rochester Mayo Varsity 93 Winona
Varsity 93
Next up: Big 9 Conference Championships – Minnesota State University
– Mankato Oct 27th.
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