“Is there some kind of Chamber meeting the WSHS Pool today?” “I don’t think so why?” “Cause I just got text from there and it said, THESE PEOPLE MEAN BUSINESS!”

Winhawks take 3^rd at the 2012 Section 1AA True Team Championships!

The Winona Winhawks hosted the 2012 Section 1AA True Team Swimming & Diving meet and suffice it to say, the teams came to flex their muscles a bit in anticipation of next month’s State Qualifying Sections. The meet consisted of the Winhawks, their Big 9 cohorts Rochester Century, Rochester John Marshall, and Owatonna along with Hastings and Farmington. Rochester Mayo was the only eligible team to sit this meet out. 

It was a great atmosphere and the WSHS Pool made for a tight venue, but the energy and excitement was VERY palpable and made for a great environment! Thanks to Brad Berzinski the Winona AD, the WSHS Custodial Staff and all the parent volunteers that helped us to show off our Winona meet management prowess and demonstrate we can host this kind of meet at WSHS. 

Teams are in mid-season and working hard in practice. They are working so hard that you don’t really expect great times out of them, just great efforts. Great efforts, we got ‘em, but great times, we got those too! When the screaming subsided and waves settled there were three (3) new True Team Meet records and three (3) new Pool records. As for the Winhawks themselves, thirty one (31) new personal bests (PBs) were swum or dove, making this meet one of the most successful big meets for the Winhawks that comes to mind. A major standout was the diving results, placing 3 competitors in the top 8. The Winhawks managed 2 in the top 8 in the 50 Free (1^st & 8^th), 100 Free (3^rd & 7^th). 200 Free Relay (1^st & 8^th) and 100 Back (7^th & 8^th) but the points from diving were huge to contributing to the overall finish. For details, read on to find out. 

The 200 Medley Relay - The Winona C Relay of McKenzie Porter, Razil Campbell, Sami Johnson and Ashley Brommerich we the first indicators of things to come. Seeded 18, they moved up to finish in the top 16 with Sami carding a PERSONAL BEST fly split. Not to be out done, the Winhawk B relay of McKenna Marg, Greer Kosidowski, Hanna O’Neill, and Emily Thurow seeded 10^th, move way up to 6^th. Both Hanna and Emily swim PERSONAL BESTS in getting there. In the final heat the competition was fierce and the Hastings A Relay set a new meet AND pool record. The Winhawk A Relay of Morgan Whyte, Sr. Co-Captain Alex Zuelke, Reese Galewski and Hailey O’Neill maintained their 2^nd seed, but they had to swim their second fastest time of the year to secure it, and Haley swims a PERSONAL BEST split. 

The 200 Freestyle show JUST how keyed up the Winhawks were. Four entries in the event, ALL of them swim personal bests. Sr. Sami Johnson moves up from the 20^th seed to 17^th with her PERSONAL BEST. Jr. Greer Kosidowski uses her PERSONAL BEST to improve from 14^th seed to 12^th. Fr. Morgan Whyte rides her PERSONAL BEST to improve from 11^th seed to 10^th place. Being the team leader that she is, Jr. Haley O’Neill, seeded 7^th, moves all the way up to finish 3^rd on the way to recording her PERSONAL BEST!

The 200 IM saw its meet record fall to Taylor Bass of Roch JM. Once again, as each heat unfolded, Winhawks were performing. McKenzie Porter was seeded 20^th but moved up to a PERSONAL BEST16^th. Jr. Razil Campbell was actually seeded behind Porter in 21^st, shaves time, cards a PERSONAL BEST and ends up leapfrogging Z into 15^th place. Fr. Alex Arnold is next on the blocks and she too, swims a PERSONAL BEST jumping from 17^th seed up to 12^th. Lastly, Jr. Reese Galewski on the strength of her butterfly, turns a 12^th seed into a 10^th place finish.

The 50 Freestyle, probably due to its short duration, saw the least volatility. Ashley Brommerich and Kailey Kronebusch hold their seeds in the early heats. Jr. Emily Thurow swims a new PERSONAL BEST on her way to taking 8^th overall, and Sr. Co-Captain Alex Zuelke is seeded and remains in 2^nd place overall beating back a plethora of Hastings and Owatonna swimmers!

The diving took place at St. Mary’s University due to mechanical problems at the Winona Middle School pool. Looking at their results, you would have thought they knew they were carrying on with a theme at the WSHS pool. The Winhawk divers were on the same ground as the other 5 teams. Moving to St. Mary’s meant everyone was a visiting team. The result showed it didn't phase WInona. Of 24 divers Winona places 3 in the top 8 positions! Sr. Megan Seeley took 13^th with a new PERSONAL BEST for her. Fr Sarah Scherbring also scores a new PERSONAL BEST taking 8^th overall. Jr. Janelle Mueller has a stellar meet crushing her previous 11 dive PERSONAL BEST score for 4^th place and Sr. Co-Captain Crystal Franzwa, overcoming adversity by way of a disappointing first required dive, beats her closest competitor by 3 points to set a new pool record and win the diving competition! 

The 100 Butterfly is the first event after the diving break and sometimes the girls need to get cranked up. Waiting behind the blocks for the Starter to get back from break can be a momentum breaker as well. The Winhawks came out holding even, So Alana Everitt, Sr. Sami Johnson, Fr Hanna O’Neill and Jr. Reese Galewski all held their seeded positions with Reese taking 2^nd place overall!

The 100 Freestyle got things a little more cranked up! A new meet record was set by Allison Schumacher of Rochester JM and the rest of the results reflected that as well. Winhawks Ashley Brommerich and Kailey Kronebusch held their seeds, Fr Alex Arnold set a new PERSONAL BEST taking 7^th overall and Jr. Hailey O’Neill sticking with the leaders right to the end places 3^rd overall!

The 500 Freestyle is where the diving points came in handy. The Winhawks are slim in the distance event this year. It is a tough regimen that requires a ton of extra work which means extra time, injury and illness avoidance. There are improvements coming and Saturday showed that as well. Fr Natasha Lewis has been making huge time drops this season, she and Fr Hanna O’Neill hold their seeds, So McKenzie Porter swims to a season low moving from 20^th seed up to 18^th overall and Jr Razil Campbell posting best times recently improves her seed from 16^th to 13^th overall. 

The 200 Freestyle relay sees a good cross section of the all the teams' sprinting talent as four entries mean 16 girls all doing the 50 yard dash and splash.  Winona’s entry of Jr Kennedy Kolas, Fr Natasha Lewis, 8^th Grader Harper O’Neill and Kailee Alsen swim their seed to lead things off. Next up, the team of Sr. Samantha Johnson, 7^th grader Alexa Lofgren, Sr. Ashlen Haines, and Jr. McKenna Marg improve on their 16^th seed, moving up to 14^th. The meet starts getting quick now, and the 8^th seed of Hanna O’Neill, Razil Campbell, Ashley Brommerich and Alexandra Arnold, even with PERSONAL BEST splits out of Razil and Alex, maintain their 8^th seed. Finally the 2^nd seeded relay team of Jr. Haley O’Neill, Morgan Whyte, Emily Thurow and Alexandra Zuelke step to the blocks. From the start the Winhawks mean business and Haley, amidst a huge wave of water and splashing, hands her teammates a 28 hundredths lead over Owatonna and over a second on Hastings. Swimming second, Morgan gets out first giving her a wisp of breathing room but Hastings reels her in ever so slightly moving into 2^nd and Owatonna starts to fade. Emily leaves the blocks with a half body length lead and has to fight her way through the wave as she turns at the 25 holding off the charging Hastings team. Sr. Co-Captain Alex sees her teammates at the far end of the pool screaming and the wall of swimmers coming at her. She gets to take Emily’s lead into the water knowing that all the big guns are on the blocks behind her (like last year’s MSHSL State 4^th place 50 Free finisher). As you would expect from a veteran, Alex turns in a PERSONAL BEST 50 split yielding but not breaking! She fights off the Hastings 50 Free state finalist and the Winhawks turn their second seed into the Section 1AA True Team Champion 200 Freestyle Relay!

The excitement of that 200 Free Relay Final must have pumped up the swimmers as the 100 Backstroke saw BOTH the Meet record AND the pool record fall to Hastings’ Brina Kari. It appears it did for Winona’s Zoe Kingsmore who, stepping in at the last minute, shaved 7 1/2 seconds off her seed for a new PERSONAL BEST to lead the Winhawks off. It must have gotten under rising star 7^th Grader Alexa Lofgren’s skin as well. She converts her 19^th seed into a huge 14^th place finish. Next Jr. McKenna Marg holds off her pumped up competition holding onto her 8^th seed but needing a new PERSONAL BEST to do it! Lastly, Morgan Whyte brings home the 7^th place finish for the Winhawks!

The 100 Breaststroke starts to bring out some signs of fatigue in the swimmers. Young Piper Lawson swims to a personal best as she and Harper O’Neill hold their seeds. Jr. Greer Kosidowski slips a bit from her seed and Alex Zuelke, swims a solid time to maintain her seed and a 2^nd place finish overall. 

The 400 Freestyle Relay is rarely a strong suit of the Winhawks, primarily because Coach Burt likes to throw his freestyle speedsters and fast utility swimmers earlier in the meet and have a score that will carry them through. (You’ll recall that the Albert Lea meet was an exception and the Winhawks swam a relay there that would have placed 4^th today!) Never the less, there were some HUGE high points during the event that both point to the future AND helped secure the Winhawks’ final place in the standings.  The first relay of Piper Lawson, Natasha Lewis, Alana Everitt and Zoe Kingsmore swim to their seed with Natasha swimming a personal best split. Across the pool from them, the Winhawk C relay was smokin’! Led off by So McKenzie Porter, she handed her team a lead that they never relinquished. Porter setting a PERSONAL BEST split was followed by 8^th grader Elly Olsen who trimmed 4 seconds for her PERSONAL BEST. Next up 8^th grader Harper O’Neill, she also cards a PERSONAL BEST and sends anchor Jr. Kennedy Kolas off to smash, you guessed it, her PERSONAL BEST by over 5 seconds! What do you get when you combine four PERSONAL BESTS in the 4 x 100? A leap from 21^st seed up to a 16^th place finish! The Winhawks B Relay of Ashlen Haines, McKenna Marg, Alexa Lofgren and Kailee Alsen sees Ashlen swim her PERSONAL BEST split and they finish 15^th. The Winhawk A relay seeded 6th, has leadoff Alex Arnold keep them right in the thick of things. Jr. Greer Kosidowski follows up with a PERSONAL BEST split, followed by Emily Thurow who also swims a PERSONAL BEST split handing their fate to Jr. Reese Galewski. Reese steps on the gas pedal taking on the Section’s premier sprinters and stays with them turning in a PERSONAL BEST and the Winhawks move up from their seeding and placing 5^th overall. 

On the strength of over 30 PERSONAL BEST or season low times, the Winona Winhawks take home the 3^rd place trophy in the 2012 Section 1AA True Team Championships!

Final Scores
 

Hastings                            880

Rochester John Marshall   877

Winona                              722

Rochester Century             717

Farmington                        700

Owatonna                          594

Next up = Winona at home against the Rochester Mayo Spartans Tuesday 6PM WSHS Pool.