I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion. Mia Hamm

Whoever says that swimming is not a team sport wallows in their ignorance. On Saturday I saw a Winona Winhawk team, through 48 individual and relay performances, do something I have NEVER seen before. Beat two Rochester teams; outscore their usual rivals Owatonna by over a 1 ½ to 1 ratio and in the end, place 2^nd at the Section 1AA True Team Championship. 

This was a case of the team leaders and stand out swimmers doing what they are supposed to do, swim to their potential and placing high in the standings. It was also a case of the middle swimmers, the team core, swimming ABOVE their standard and scoring for TEAM to facilitate a favorable outcome. Saturday, it was the middle core of swimmers that told their captains and seniors, “don’t sweat it, we have your back”. 

A little background, the True Team concept is to facilitate an outcome where the entire team contributes to the scoring, rather than just a team’s handful of fastest swimmers. In a normal championship meet, points are awarded for 1^st – 16^th place regardless of the number of entries. In True Team, all teams are allowed 4 entries in an event, and it scores 1^st through the final swimmer. In Saturday’s case, there were 6 teams participating so points were awarded down through 24^th place, both individual and relay events. Relays have 600 points up for grabs, individual events 300. 

The meet consisted of Section 1AA teams, Farmington, Hastings, Owatonna, Rochester JM, Rochester Century, and Winona.

Right out of the gate, you know it was going to be a good day. The divers, as usual, had their competition in the morning. The four divers, Sr. Co-Captain Janelle Mueller, Jr. Sarah Scherbring, So. Emilee Degnan and Freshman Claire Conway finished 3rd, 6th, 9th and 13^th respectively scoring a disproportionally high point total of 68.

If diving wasn’t enough of a kickoff, the 200 Medley Relay first heat had to be. Swimming in the same heat, the D relay of Crowson, Harper O’Neill, Alana Everitt and Kailee Alsens, seeded 23^rd beat their seed by a second and a half to move up 4 spots to 19^th overall. The Winona “C” Relay of Porter, Drazkowski, Kronebusch and Kolaas seeded 17^th ALL swim personal best splits and move up 4 spots themselves to finish 13^th overall. Not to be outdone, the Winhawk “B:” relay of Marg, Anderson, O’Neill and Quandahl nearly copy them. Marg is at her season low and the other three set new season lows or personal bests. They improve on their 10^th seed to finish 8^th overall. Lastly, the Winhawk “A” Relay of Whyte, Kosidowski, Galewski, and Thurow swim a couple of season lows and they move up from the 4^th seed to finish 3^rd overall. The Winhawks collect 102 points. 

The 200 Yard Freestyle sees more of the same. Swimming exhibition Sophomore Zoe Kingsmore and Junior Janessa Burch both drop huge time off their seeds, 5 and 9 seconds respectively. With that as a base, 8^th grader Alexa Lofgren and 7^th grader Morgan Drazkowski go out and set personal bests by over 2 seconds each and both improve on their seeds, finishing 15^th and 14^th respectively. Sr. Greer Kosidowski swims next and she too swims a new personal best improving up 2 spots to finish 8^th. Lastly Sr. Co-Captain Haley O’Neill seeded 3^rd swims herself a personal best to move up to 2^nd place. Total points 61

The 200 IM, a Winhawks weak spot, Sees 7^th grader Lauren Whyte break into the scoring moving her 27^th seed into points territory with 22^nd overall. Next to her Freshman Harper O’Neill improves her 265^th seed also up into points land finishing 20^th overall. After Porter declare a false start due to injury, Sophomore Alex Arnold does all she can swimming a new personal best and moving from 9^th seed up to finish 7^th. The Winhawks only garner 26 points.

The 50 Freestyle, short enough that moving from your seed is tough,  Sophomore Ashley Brommerich maintains her seed finishing 22^nd, Sr. Kennedy Kolaas improves on hers up to tie for 20^th. Sr. Abbey Quandahl finishes in 11^th and Sr. Emily Thurow makes it 2 for 2 with a second personal best and improves her 8^th seed up to 3^rd place overall. Total points are 44.5.

After a diving break, the 100 Butterfly sees Porter; suffering from tendonitis in her elbow swims through the pain and finishes 21^st. Sophomore Hanna O’Neill moves from the 12^th seed up to 9^th overall and Sr. Co-Captain Reese Galewski maintains her seed finishing 2^nd overall, total points 43.

The 100 Freestyle features 8^th grader Alexa Lofgren placing 10^th overall, Alex Arnold improves on her 13^th seed to finish 9^th. The outstanding swim goes to Sophomore Morgan Whyte seeded 15^th swims a personal best to move up to finish 5^th overall! Leading the way for the Winhawks was Sr. Co-Captain Haley O'Neill. Miss Dependable swims her seed time to make 4th place over all.  Winhawk points equal 51

Team Standings through the 100 Freestyle

Farmington         534

Winona                429.5

Roch JM               399.5

Roch Cent           381

Hastings               363

Owatonna           288

The 500 Freestyle reflects an invigorated Winhawk team learning they were in 2^nd place. Jessica Kohner moves from her 24^th seed up to 22^nd. Sr. Razil Campbell seeded 18^th swims a season low to finish 14^th. Sr. Co-Captain Reese Galewski swims her seed to finish 12^th. The swim of this event belonged to Sr. McKenna Marg seeded 17^th she swims  a personal best sun 6 minute for the first time and moves up to 11^th overall. Winhawk points – 41

Standings after 500

Farmington         614

Winona                470.5

Roch JM               441.5

Roch Cent           428

Hastings               418

Owatonna           323

The 200 Free Relay sees everyone swim just ahead of their seed. O’Neill, Everett, Anderson and Olsen seeded 22^nd, finish 20^th. Brommerich, Kolaas, Kronebusch and Alsens finish 14^th, Quandahl, Arnold, O’Neill and Lofgren improve from 8^th to 7^th and Thurow, Kosidowski, Galewski and O’Neill move from 4^th to 3^rd finish. Winhawks points – 112

The 100 Backstroke was huge for the Winhawks, Sr. Razil Campbell improves on her 24^th seed to place 18^th! Sr. Abbey Quandahl finished 8^th, McKenna Marg smokes out a new personal best by over a second and was 5^th and So. Morgan Whyte finished 4^th for a total score of 65.

The 100 Breaststroke similar to the IM is a weak point for the Winhawks. A bright point within the event is 7^th grader Annika Anderson. She swims to a new personal best moving from her 18^th seed up to finish 13^th. Sr. Greer Kosidowski swims a solid time to improves from 7^th seed to finish 6^th. Score – 31.5

If their output in the Breaststroke concerned them, the Winhawks went into the 400 Free determined to hang onto their 2^nd place. The relay of Kronebusch, Kohner, Alsens and Anderson jump from their 20^th seed up to 16^th. Campbell, Brommerich, Porter and Kolaas finish 13^th. Thurow, Marg, O’Neill and Drazkowski finish 8^th. Anchoring the day’s effort for the Winhawks, 3 stars of the future and their leader, Lofgren, Whyte, Arnold and O’Neill, lay it all out. All 4 swim at or new personal best splits and they move from 7^th seed up to 2^nd place overall swimming the 7^th fastest Winhawk 4x100 on record! Scoring – 122 points

Final Scores

Farmington         976

Winona                803

Roch JM               750.5

Roch Cent           745.5

Hastings               707

Owatonna           510