Perspective and a litttle distance, with both appeances can change a great deal!!

The Big 9 Swimming & Diving Championship is a roller coaster. There are high points, there are low points, there are VERY high points, and a few very low points. In the end, it’s appreciating the ride in its totality that determines if you decide to ride again or not!

The Winona Winhawks traveled to Rochester to participate in the Big 9 Swim & Dive Championships. Like all mid-season swim meets, and that is all Big 9 is, a mid-season swim meet, swimmers have good days and bad days. They have been training hard, Sections is still two weeks out, but yet, it is Big 9. 

If you were to gage the Winhawks’ performance overall based on their post-meet body language, you would think it as so-so to disappointing meet. Perhaps they are being a bit hard on themselves. Reviewing the swims and the scores, there were some VERY high points and just a few low, and in TOTAL, they BEAT early season expectations! 

Might I remind you:

BIG 9 PRESEASON COACHES POLL                             Big 9 Championships Final Results

1. Rochester John Marshall                                         1. Rochester Mayo           376 1/2

2. Rochester Mayo                                                     2. Albert Lea                      309

3. Mankato West                                                        3. Mankato West              294

4. Albert Lea                                                              4. Rochester JM                273

5. Rochester Century                                                  5. Winona                          219

6. Faribault                                                                 6. Faribault                         210

7. Winona                                                                  7. Rochester Century          185        8. Owatonna                                                              8. Owatonna                     122 1/2

9. Austin                                                                    9. Austin                             122

10. Mankato East                                                       10. Mankato East             51

Based upon the assumption that everyone knows Big 9 is a moral victory and that Sections is the true measure of team success, The Winhawks did PRETTY DARN WELL.

The 200 Medley Relay saw the veteran group of Sophomore Morgan Whyte, Senior Greer Kosidowski, Sr. Co-Captain Reese Galewski and Senior Emily Thurow seeded 4^th finish in that same spot just as all the top four seeds did. Their time was a season best and slightly improved their 7^th fastest Winhawk time ever from weeks earlier!

The 200 Freestyle was the first indication that the young Winhawks were going to have a great day! Sophomore Harper O’Neill crushed her seed time by over 12 seconds on her way to swimming a new personal best finishing 36^th. 7^th Grader Morgan Drazkowski, seeded 22^nd, improved that by 3 spots in the final tally, swimming a new personal best time in her young but rosy looking career. Greer Kosidowski swam her seed looking solid and Morgan Whyte swam a personal best to better her 9^th seed into an appearance on the podium in 8^th overall!

The 200 IM also has some good performances. Junior McKenzie Porter seeded 27^th went out FAST finishing the fly leg with a good body length and a half lead. She extended it through the backstroke but paid the price during the breaststroke yielding practically all of it and fading in the freestyle. In the end she still beat her seed time by a half second and held her seeded position as well. Swimming right next to McKenzie in the better seed was Sr. Razil Campbell. She swam her own race touching 3^rd after the fly and backstroke then gaining ground during her specialty the Breaststroke. She out sprinted the field in the freestyle to touch well in front for first in her heat improving on her seed by two positions!  The final two Winhawks to swim were Sophomore Alex Arnold and Reese Galewski the 9^th and 11^th seeds overall. Reese meant business from the start taking the lead in her signature fly and never relinquished it. Her time was a new personal best, 4 seconds faster than any other time this year, and moved her up to the 8^th fastest Winhawk IM on record! Right beside her was Alex who slowly gained ground on Reese after the fly to finish tenths behind her in a new personal best as well which retains her the 9^th fastest Winhawk IM on record!

The 50 Freestyle had Winhawks spread through the final four heats. Sophomore Hanna O’Neill, swimming the 50 for the second time all year swims her seed at 29^th but does a  new personal best while at it! The next heat featured Senior Abbey Quandahl. Since her return from her year off schooling in Europe she has looked like a girl making up for lost time and Big 9 was no exception. Swimming out of Lane 7 she set a new personal best finishing over a half a second ahead of the field in a race usually decided by fingernail length! Her time vaulted her up to 12^th overall scoring some unexpected points for the Winhawks. Senior Emily Thurow scored for the Winhawks finishing 16^th  just off her seed time and Sr. Co-Captain Haley O’Neill got to visit the podium matching her 5^th seed in a new personal best time.

The Diving was contested Friday night at Rochester JM. The divers performed 5 dives in the preliminaries. The top 20 divers moved on to the semifinals for 3 more dives. The top 16 divers wrapped up competition in the Finals with 3 last dives. Sophomore Emilee Degnan finished the preliminaries in 31^st , the highlight of her group being her Back 1 SS with 1 Twist scoring 3.5’s to 4.5’s and 23.75 points. Freshman Claire Conway was in 25^th at the end of prelims consistently scoring 4’s and 4.5’s through all 5 dives. Her performance highlighted by her Forward 1 SS with 1 twist for 22.80 points scoring 3.5’s to 4.5’s. Junior Sarah Scherbring came out of prelims in 12^th place, her forward 1 ½ ss pike earned her 5’s to 6.5’s. She exited Semifinals in 10^th place on the strength of her Back 1 ½ ss ½ twist for 4.5’s and 28.35 pts. Sarah finished up scoring for the Winhawks in 12^th overall her Inward Dive pike scoring 5’s & 6’s for 23.25. Sr. Co-Captain Janelle Mueller finished prelims in 15^th, moved up to 9^th on the strength of her Inward 1 ½ ss tuck for 28.60 points scoring 4.5’s and in the Finals scored for the Winhawks in 11^th overall hitting her Inward dive pike for 5’s and 6’s and 23.25 points.

The 100 Butterfly started for the Winhawks in Heat 2 of 5. Juniors McKenzie Porter and Kailey Kronebusch both swam one better spot than their seeds finishing in 29^th and 26^th respectively. Sophomore Hanna O’Neill appeared a bit off sliding from her 17^th seed to finish 22^nd. After a gap Sr. Co=Captain Reese Galewski stepped up to Lane 3 as the 3^rd seed overall in the Final heat. Reese was swimming against the defending champion and Olympic Qualifier form Mankato West and need to bring it to stay in the game. Reese swam just off her personal best but stayed with the leaders stepping onto the Podium in 3^rd overall.

The 100 Freestyle was another eye opener, future based that is. Winhawks typically known as freestylers, did not appear until the 3^rd heat of 5. 8^th Grader Alexa Lofgren and Sophomore Alex Arnold appeared at Lanes 4 & 5 respectively. The pair proceeded to decimate the heat finishing over a half second ahead of their nearest rival. Both girls set new personal best times by 3/4^th of a second and scored for the Winhawks in 13^th and 12^th place respectively. Sr. Emily Thurow seeded 14^th swims just off her seed and finishes 18^th overall. Lastly Sr. Co-Captain Haley O’Neill, the 5^th seed overall swims to that seed, making her 3^rd Podium appearance of the day!

The 500 Freestyle starts with Freshman Jessica Kohner improving on her see, cutting 4 seconds to swim a personal best and finishes 34^th overall. 7^th Grader Morgan Drazkowski swimming the 500 for only the 3^rd time all year, starts out guarded and then negative splits her final 3 laps with the last 50 being faster than her first 50 to move up 4 spots from 22^nd seed to 18^th overall.  Sr. McKenna Marg swims a solid early effort, falling off at the 3/4^th mark but picking it at the end, improving on her seed and scoring for the Winhawks in 16^th overall. Sr. Razil Campbell swimming out of Lane 8 started strong but maybe paying the price for her stellar IM earlier slides from 16^th seed to 20^th overall.  

The 200 Freestyle Relay saw the Winhawk “A” relay slightly different than usual but they held their ground none-the-less. Emily Thurow, Greer Kosidowski, Alex Arnold and Haley O’Neill also placed fourth with a time of 1:45.47 grabbing them the 10^th fastest Winhawk relay ever.

At this point, the Scoring totals are:

1. Rochester Mayo 276 ½
2. Mankato West   233
3. Albert Lea            199
4. Roch JM               194
5. Winona                158
6. Roch Cent           147
7.  Faribault              141
8. Owatonna            97
9.  Austin                  92
10. Mankato East       51

The teams that were originally picked to finish 5 – 8^th in the Big 9 see only 17 points separating 5,6,and 7^th place and the final 3 events will be crucial to determine finishes.

The 100 Backstroke held the most drama of the meet. Promising to be a points bucket for the Winhawks, Winona wasn’t swimming until the 3^rd heat where 8^th Grader Alexa Lofgren was in Lane 1. It bought her some anonymity as after turning with the majority of the pack at the 50, she out split the entire field to touch in 2^nd for the heat. She moves herself up from 18^th seed to scoring for the Winhawks in 16^th overall. The next heat had Sr. Abbey Quandahl out in Lane 8 seeded 16^th. Perhaps still juiced off of her 50 free finish, she takes the start underwater dolphining right up to the 15 meter mark and pops up in the lead. Abbey dolphins off of the first turn for half the pool and remains in the lead going into the 50 turn with a body and a half lead. Her third turn is a dolphin past the flags and she maintains her stroke into the wall at 75. Her final turn is to the flags underwater, she is going into oxygen debt but her lead is too great for the pack and she touches first with a half second to spare. Her amazing effort has vaulted her from 16^th seed up to a podium finish in 7^th overall!!! In the Final Heat, Sr. McKenna Marg is out in Lane 8 and appears to not have recovered from her 500 Free swim. McKenna slips past her seeding but still scores for the Winhawks in 14^th overall. In the same final heat Sophomore Morgan Whyte swimming as the 4^th seed has to swim within herself as the swimmers next to her in 4 & 5 are both sub-minute past conference champions slugging it out. She turns at the 50 in 5^th but out splits her competition and touches for a nice podium appearance joining Abbey as the 4^th place finisher!!

The 100 Breaststroke sees Winhawks right away in the first heat. Freshman Harper O’Neill sets a personal best jumping from 39^th seed up to finish 34^th.   Her teammate Jessica Kohner swims her 37^th seed. 7^th Grader Annika Anderson also swims her seed at 21^st seed overall and Sr. Greer Kosidowski slips a little off her seed to finish 17^th overall.

The point totals now sit at:

1. Rochester Mayo 342 ½
2. Albert Lea            283
3. Mankato West   254
4. Roch JM            241
5. Winona                187
6. Faribault              183
7. Roch Cent           163
8. Owatonna           104 1/2
9. Austin                     98
10. Mankato East       51

The 400 Freestyle Relay has double point scoring but essentially barring disqualification, the only finishes in jeopardy are the 5-6 between Winona and Faribault. By chance they are seeded 4^th and 5^th swimming on opposite sides of the pool in 6 and 2 respectively. The Winhawks’ Sr. Co-Captain Reese Galewski leads off and spots Winona a full one second lead. Sophomore Morgan Whyte takes over and although even slitting the first 50 holds her pace better and adds to the lead offering fellow Sophomore Alex Arnold a 1.4 second lead. Alex does the exact same thing, her Falcon opponent matches her 50 split but buries her on the backend. At the touch of the final leg Sr. Co-Captain Haley O’Neill leaps with a 3.5 second lead. The problem is Haley, the 5^th fastest 100 freestyler in the conference is pitted against the 3^rd fastest 100 Freestyler in the conference as the Falcon anchor. Haley swims valiantly but the inspired Falcon makes up nearly 1.2 seconds on the first 50. Haley continues to swim at the same anchor pace that has held up the Winhawks all season, she bends but does not break! In spite of the Falcon anchor swimming 2 1/2 seconds faster than the time that got her 3^rd in the 100, Haley and the Winhawks hold on for 4^th overall, the 6^th fastest Winhawk 4x100 relay ever AND 5^th place in the Big 9 Championships.

Next up,  Section 1AA Preliminaries on Thursday November 7^th at the Rochester Rec Center!