There is an old proverb called For Want of a Nail, the idea trying to show that small actions can result in large consequences.
For want of
a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of
a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of
a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of
a rider, the message was lost.
For want of
a message, the battle was lost.
For want of
a battle, the kingdom was lost.
All for the
want of a horseshoe nail.
Applied to
real life, it means the little things that we do, or in some cases the little
things that we DO NOT do, can and sometimes DO have consequences.
In analyzing
the meet between the Winona Winhawks and the Faribault Falcons, it appears that
the Falcons justifiably should have been favored. Analyzing the results, the
Winhawks, who swam well, could have pulled off the upset. Their times were stellar
in some cases, comparable to their past swims in most other. The ability to
summon up “above average” performances is not all just mental. Physical conditioning
is essential. The little things that we do or sometimes do not do during
practice that, when competing and should be unconscious habits, are not there
to help contribute to a clutch performance. You skip part of a set, fudge on a
drill, go half speed instead of sprint, may seem small at the time but……………..
The 200
Medley Relay may have put the Winhawks in a bad mental place right out of the
gate. Watching a State finalist stake the other relay to a 3+ second lead can play
with your mind. From downright awe to “gees we’ll never catch up.” The Winhawk
A Relay of Whyte, Kosidowski, Galewski and O’Neill finished 5 ½ seconds off the
leaders, a few seconds off their usual but it didn’t matter, they finished well
ahead of the relays behind them. The Winhawk B Relay looked off their game and the Winhawks concede the 1st and 3rd place
points.
Winona 4 Faribault 10
The 200
Freestyle should have put some wind back in the Winhawks’ sails. Again, the
times were not spectacular, but Sophomore Morgan Whyte showed great mid-season
form and patience. She swam through the 50 and 100 as much as a full second
behind her competition. She started making up ground after that turn. She was
still catching by the 150 and then just blew away the field to touch in first.
Sr. Greer Kosidowski was also in a battle for 3rd. Being down at the
50, she gained the lead by the 100 mark. She extended that lead through the 150
and then held on to place 3rd a full half second ahead. Scoring in 5th
was Sr. McKenna Marg swimming a season low for herself. The 1-3-5 effort helps
reel in the Falcons.
Winona 14 Faribault 16
The 200 IM saw
Winona pull even in a sort of “kiss your sister” way. Sophomore Alex Arnold
took the field out for a ride. She had the top finish with a body length to
spare, needing and swimming a season low time. Sr. Razil Campbell and Jr.
McKenzie Porter swimming so-so times would have had to swim personal bests to
do any better. Therefore, the Winhawks do as well as can be expected, then
realize the 9-7 scoring was enough to pull the meet to all even.
Winona 23 Faribault 23
The 50
Freestyle was, well, unfortunate. Faribault coaching threw their star swimmer
Hake into the mix and she takes the win. Sr. Co-Captain Halley O’Neill and Sr.
Emily Thurow swim times in line with recent performances but that is only good
for 2nd and 5th respectively and that puts the Winhawks
back into a hole.
Winona 28 Faribault 34
1 meter
diving followed a similar theme as the 200 IM. Sr. Co-Captain Janelle Mueller
was up against very tough competition and would have needed a monster performance
to finish better than she did. As it was, she set a new personal best in
placing 3rd. Right behind her were Jr. Sarah Scherbring with a solid
performance in 4th and Sophomore Emilee Degnan scoring a new personal
best to score in 5th. All were great or good performances, but scoring
a deficit.
Winona 34 Faribault 44
The 100
Butterfly was the Winhawks sending the message that they would not go quietly
into the night. Sr. C0-Captain Reese Galewski came off the post-diving warm-up revved up! She literally took the field for a ride swimming a season low
time with no one even in her rear view mirror. Sophomore Alex Arnold made it a
race back behind Reese, swimming a new personal best but having to settle for 3rd.
Jr. Kailey Kronebusch scored in 5th. The 10-6 edge gets the Winhawks
back into the fray.
Winona 44 Faribault 50
The 100
Freestyle was redemption for the prior sprinting effort. Sr. Co-Captain Haley O’Neill
swims to a solid first with plenty of room to spare. 8th Grader
Alexa Lofgren speeds to her quickest time in weeks and earns herself 3rd
by an arm length. Sr. Emily Thurow going back to sprinting from the technical
strokes, scores in 5th. The Winhawks pull closer with the 10 – 6 edge
in point and get the Falcons worried.
Winona 54 Faribault 56
The 500
Freestyle was a true test of will. The Falcons had two decent performers and Sr.
Co-Captain Reese Galewski was going to have to dual them hard if the Winhawks
were going to keep the scoring momentum going. Reese took the race out with the
patience of a veteran. Down to the leader early, she made up ground to pull
even by 250 and pull away from the Falcon in 3rd. All three stayed close
right to the end with Reese staying within a second of the lead and holding off
a charging Falcon to place 2nd. While all this was going on Seniors
Razil Campbell and McKenna Marg were swimming pretty much side-by-side to secure
the scoring for 4th and 5th respectively with good
mid-season times.
Winona 61 Faribault 65
The 200 Free
Relay was the Winhawks’ Waterloo. Having clawed their way back into contention,
it would have required season best performances from BOTH Winhawk A and B relays
and they just did not have it in them. Faribault stretches their lead, possibly
for good.
Winona 65 Faribault 75
The Winhawks
go into the 100 Backstroke knowing A) they just had their hat handed to them by
the 4x50 Relay and B) they are up against one of if not the fastest backstroker in
the conference. All three Winhawks show GREAT character. Sophomore Morgan Whyte
swims to 2nd place in a respectable time. Sr. Abbey Quandahl and 8th
grader Alexa Lofgren takes their competition side-by-side the entire 100 yards
just getting out touched. Abbey swims to a season low and Lofgren sets a new
personal best by over 2 seconds only to score in 4th and 5th
respectively. The Winhawks are outscored but the meet is not lost, yet.
Winona 72 Faribault 84
The 100
Breaststroke finds the Winhawks in need of some depth and the Winhawks have no
depth to offer. Sr. Greer Kosidowski leads the team as she has all season
touching in 2nd. Left to compete are two of the youngest Winhawks. 8th
grader Annika Anderson swims just off the personal best time she did last week
but it is only good for scoring 5th. Now the meet is out of the reach
for the Winhawks.
Winona 77 Faribault 95
The 400 Free
Relay, although not determining winning or losing, allows the Winhawks to send
a message to the Falcons, on a different day, the results could have been
different. The two A relays jockey back and forth over the four swimmers, and
the Winhawk A relay of Galewski, Lofgren, Whyte and O’Neill swim to their
fastest time of the season touching out the Falcons by over a second.
In the end,
the Winhawks did not swim badly, but they did not swim well enough to overcome
the odds. Many times, it is the little things, which added up, make the difference
between good and great. A performance possibly lost, for the want of a nail. Was
this one of them? Only the Winhawks can ask and answer that, for themselves.
The Final
Score:
JV
Winona Winhawks 79 Faribault Falcons 97
Varsity
Winona Winhawks 89 Faribault Falcons 95
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