The Winona Winhawks (0-2), (0-2) were splashing hard
Thursday night, swimming and diving for their first victory of this new season.
Rochester Mayo (3-0, 3-0) had come to town and knew they stacked up closely
with Winona so were closely watching the meet progress.
The 200 Medley Relay was a great kick-off for the Winhawks,
the A Relay of Senior Aaron Whyte, Sr. Co-Captain Cal Dretske, Junior Kyle Schneider
and Junior EJ Kohner started out the meet fighting. Up against a 2013 State backstroke
qualifier, Aaron was down a second by the time he handed off to Cal. Cal, a State qualifier in his own right, made
up a half second on the Spartans. Kyle went out and made up another tenth or so
on the butterfly leg, leaving the task on EJ’s shoulders. Up against a Senior
veteran, EJ passes him mid pool out swimming him by a full second and touching
first!
Winona 8 Rochester Mayo 6
The 200 Freestyle saw Senior Co-Captain Hodd Gorman behind
the blocks, determined to make the most out of his senior year. He came out
quick in the first meet, he sent the message that it was no fluke. Hodd touched
in first over 12 seconds ahead, (the length of the pool). The battle for third
was next and Sophomore Tyler Suman swam a personal best in out touching his
Spartan chaser by nearly 75 hundredths of a second.
Winona 17 Rochester Mayo 13
The 200 IM was a great race to watch, young 8th
Grader Griffin Wolner was up against a par of Spartan youngsters, 9th
and 7th graders respectively. The race was tough right from the
start, the three went down and back in the butterfly leg touching within a
second of each other, Wolner in 2nd place. Again they went down and
back, this time in backstroke and this time, their splits were within a half second
of each other. The Breaststroke leg was the moment of distinction, sticking
with them through the 25, Wolner cracked over the last 1`5 yards touching 3rd
going into the freestyle leg. IN the final 50, The Mayo 9th grader
extended his lead,, Wolner recovered and gained on the Mayo 7th
grader, but couldn’t make up the difference touching in 3rd. Sr.
Co-Captain Cal Dretske watched the whole
race transpire as he followed up behind securing the points for fourth, but the
Mayo 1-2 let them pass the Winhawks on the scoreboard.
Winona 22 Rochester Mayo 24
The 50 Freestyle was a battle of the big guns. Jr. EJ Kohner
found himself next to Mayo’s 2013 state qualifier in the 50 Free, and his Mayo State
Qualifying 200 Free Relay partner off his left in Lane 1. EJ left the blocks
strong and never looked back winning by nearly a half second on the State
veteran. Senior Hudson Echelard took fourth overall swimming a new personal
best! The 1-4 meant an 8-8 point split and the lead stayed with the Spartans.
Winona 30 Rochester Mayo 32
During all this the diving was taking place over at the
Middle School, Winhawk divers Sophomore Derrik Prenot, Junior Joshua Simmons
and Joseph Fish dove to a 1-3-5 finish and gives the score lead back to the Winhawks!
Winona 40 Rochester Mayo 38
The 100 Butterfly was all Junior Kyle Schneider. Ahead from
right after the start, he continued to extend his lead and won by over 3
seconds. Cutting 2 seconds off his time from last Saturday, Senior Aaron Whyte
scores in 5th overall. Half way through the meet, things are all
tied up!
Winona 47 Rochester Mayo 47
The 100 Freestyle was a kick to the Winhawks’ solar plexus.
Jr. EJ Kohner, the odds on favorite false starts and is disqualified. Sophomore
Tyler Suman pulls off an awesome swim and collects 2nd place points,
Sr. Hudson Echelard collects 4th. Instead of 10 points and a clear
lead, the Winhawks have to settle for 6 and the pendulum swings back to Mayo. One
high point of the 100 Free was the JV heat where Senior Taylor Olson went
sub-minute to join the Winhawk Minuteman Club, congrats Taylor!!!!
Winona 53 Rochester Mayo 57
The 500 Freestyle was again all Sr. Co-Captain Hodd Gorman.
Leading from the start he swims alone and touched in his fastest time of the season
a full two lengths ahead of the field. 8th grader Brady Kline
swimming the 500 for the first time this season touches in 3rd
overall closing out the scoring for the Winhawks and helping to regain some
ground.
Winona 62 Rochester Mayo 64
The 200 Free Relay was huge for the Winhawks. The team of
Griffin Wolner, Kyle Schneider, Hodd Gorman and Cal Dretske motor to a clear
win with nearly 4 seconds of a lead. Helping the cause was the B relay of Tyler
Suman, Taylor Olson, Hudson Echelard and Alex Miller which swam to a clear 3rd
place finish, the 10 – 4 differential puts the Winhawks back into the lead.
Winona 72 Rochester Mayo 68
The 100 Backstroke was a rematch of the opening leg of the
Medley Relay. Sr. Aaron Whyte battling the Mayo State Qualifier. Aaron fell off
the leader slightly in eth opening 50, turning in a clear second but needing to
make up over a second. He caught his stride and matched the Spartan stroke for
stroke in the final 50 securing 2nd place. 8th Grader
Brady Kline touched scoring in 5th place. The lead see-saws BACK to
Mayo.
Winona 77 Rochester Mayo 79
The 100 Breaststroke featured Sr. Co-Captain Cal Dretske in
Lane 4. He took eth field out quick at the start, and touched in first at the
50 by a mere 3 tenths. After that he faded ever so slightly, but enough for the
Mayo youngster in Lane 5 to overtake and out touch him by 3 tenths of a second.
Behind them in the battle for fourth, 8th Grader Griffin Wolner was
in a neck and neck race the entire way. With a 5 hundredths lead at the 50,
Griff holds on eeking out an additional 4 hundredths on the back side to out
touch the Spartan by a total of 11 hundredths of a second. The 2 -4 is only
good for 6 points though, and the Spartans pad their lead to where they are assured
of a tie barring relay DQs.
Winona 83 Rochester Mayo 89
double check - n. A
careful reinspection or reexamination to assure accuracy or proper condition;
verification.
The 400 Freestyle Relay was Winona’s chance to salvage the
meet. 6 points down, a first and third would mean a 10-4 point edge and the
meet would end in a tie. Only, the Winona Coaching staff had a different score
in their book. They had themselves down by 8, and thought that they needed a
1-2 to tie. They went to the scorer’s table and adjusted their relays to balance
them out, the only way to try and win 1-2 was to spread the talent out. Go big
or go home as the saying goes. Go 1-2 or lose. Only it was all for naught. A
1-3 would have sufficed. The Winhawks swam two relays consisting of “A” Miller,
Schneider, Wolner and Kohner in Lane 4 and “B” Suman, Whyte, Kline and Gorman
in Lane 2. Spreading the talent out made for two formidable relays, but not
quick enough. The A relay was off the lead
from the start, behind by as much as 7 seconds, Wolner was able to pull back a
second and Kohner in a valiant effort, gained back 3 ½ seconds but still
touched in 2nd. The B Relay for Winona was a CLEAR 3rd
place, touching over 25 seconds in front of 4th.
The win was very possible, the tie was too, but in the end,
the Winhawks had another notch in the loss column.
JV Score
Winona 24 Rochester Mayo 78
Varsity
Winona 89 Rochester Mayo 97
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