Thursday afternoon the Winona Winhawks jump in the Rochester Recreation Center Pool with a trip to State on the line. All the dual meets, invitationals, and even the Big 9 Conference Meet have no bearing on the potential offered swimmers by the Section 1AA meet. When they enter the pool for their 100, 200 or even 500 yard swims, at the end of the event the State Meet waits for a select few. The top two finishers at Sections and any that can swim beneath the qualifying standard get to reach that promised land, the MSHSL Girls’ State Swimming & Diving Championships. The second tier of opportunities offered a swimmer at Sections is the finals. The Sections meet is a prelim and finals meet, the only one of the season for the Winhawks. There is a gratitude offered a swimmer by going up against 20 to 30 other swimmers, and finishing in the elite group that get to swim the Finals two days later. In the case of the divers, they get a double dose. Divers have to make the first cut from prelims to semi-finals, and ultimately a second cut to get into finals.
Certainly All Big 9 Conference Winhawk swimmers Junior Bridget Bawek 50 & 100 freestyle), Junior Samantha Quandahl, (100 Butterfly) Sophomore MacKenzie Brosnahan (50 & 100 Freestyle) and Freshman Alexandra Zuelke (100 Breaststroke) have the potential to punch their ticket to the U of M Aquatic Center and next week’s State meet. Senior Co-Captain Aimee Peterson an Honorable Mention Big 9 has the potential to pull off a big surprise and go along to State in the 50 Freestyle. The 400 Free Relay of Bawek, Sophmore Olivia Staats, Brosnahan and Zuelke has an excellent chance of heading to State if they can make safe exchanges and execute turns. The same can be said for the 200 Free Relay of Bawek, 8th Grader Haley O’Neil, Peterson and Brosnahan, but they will have to upset Owatonna to do it, which in itself is a desirable goal much less a State Meet slot.
There are a good number of Winhawks that may get that return trip to Saturday’s Finals. Sections is a pseudo repeat of the Big 9 less Austin, Albert Lea, Mankato East & West which all compete in Class A. Added to the picture is Missota Conference Team Farmington. Accounting for the positions vacated and then re-seeded, some young Winhawks have a real chance of swimming Saturday in the Finals. Some Winhawks that can work their way to the Finals and swim/dive Saturday night include:
8th Grader Reese Galewski in the 200IM and 100Fly
Junior Taylor Johnson in the 50 Free and 100 Breaststroke
8th Grader Crystal Franswa in Diving
Junior Erin Bernardy in the 100Butterfly
Junior Mallory Porter in the 100 Butterfly
7th Grader McKenzie Porter in the 500 Freestyle
8th Grader Gabby Kleinow in the 500 Freestyle
8th Grader Haley O’Neil in the 200 Free
The Section 1AA meet will be a meet of surprises, excitement and drama. That much is guaranteed, the remaining fruits to be realized are left up to desire.
Section 1AA Teams
Farmington High School
Owatonna High School
Rochester Century High School
Rochester Mayo High School
Coop: 160 "Faribault"
Bethlehem Academy
Faribault High School (HOST)
Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf
Coop: 376 "Rochester John Marshall"
Byron High School
Rochester John Marshall (HOST)
Rochester Lourdes High School
Coop: 490 "Winona H.S."
Cotter High School
Hope Lutheran High School
Winona High School (HOST)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Local Colleges in action last Weekend
The MSUM Mavericks ran up the highway a few miles to take on Gustavus Adolphus. Both the Men & Women prevailed. Winona native Mary Bastian was not in the water.
Final Results
Women -
1. Minnesota State University 141 2. Gustavus 98
Men -
1. Minnesota State University 119 2. Gustavus 117
UW - LaCrosse traveled to St. Olaf and swam in the Northfield Invitational. There were no scores kept but the Eagles had some good swims.
http://www.uwlathletics.com/news/2009/11/7/MSWIM_1107093735.aspx
Final Results
Women -
1. Minnesota State University 141 2. Gustavus 98
Men -
1. Minnesota State University 119 2. Gustavus 117
UW - LaCrosse traveled to St. Olaf and swam in the Northfield Invitational. There were no scores kept but the Eagles had some good swims.
http://www.uwlathletics.com/news/2009/11/7/MSWIM_1107093735.aspx
Wizards take their first splashes at the Tigershark Thankgiving Classic
On Sunday four Wizards traveled to Farmington to join 647 other swimmers trying their best in the pool.
Megan Ell Swam the 100 Breast in 2:43.33 for 25th place and the 50 Free in 54.10 for 44th place.
Anna Kuasova Swam a pair of solid "C" times with a 37.27 in the 50 Free for 19th place and a 1:32.35Y in the 100 Back for another 19th place.
Grant Wolner swam an awesome "B" time of 46.36 in the 50 Free for a 5th place finish. Grant could have had another "B" time in the 50 Breast. He swam a solid 56.33Y but DQ'ed himself with an incorrect swimming stroke that the coaches will be working on right away. Grant also swan a "C" time of 1:04.70 in the 50 Fly but DQ'ed himself when he did not finish the race with a two handed touch at the wall. Coach Kristina will be working with all the kids on their turns and finishes.
Griffin Wolner swam a solid 100 IM "B" time in 1:36.24 for 13the place , a low "B" time in the 100 Breast of 1:41.37, (a new personal best time ) for 8th place. He also scored a solid "B" time of 34.69 in the 50 Free for 11th place.
Well done Wizards, you put out a great effort in a really big meet and did your club proud!
Megan Ell Swam the 100 Breast in 2:43.33 for 25th place and the 50 Free in 54.10 for 44th place.
Anna Kuasova Swam a pair of solid "C" times with a 37.27 in the 50 Free for 19th place and a 1:32.35Y in the 100 Back for another 19th place.
Grant Wolner swam an awesome "B" time of 46.36 in the 50 Free for a 5th place finish. Grant could have had another "B" time in the 50 Breast. He swam a solid 56.33Y but DQ'ed himself with an incorrect swimming stroke that the coaches will be working on right away. Grant also swan a "C" time of 1:04.70 in the 50 Fly but DQ'ed himself when he did not finish the race with a two handed touch at the wall. Coach Kristina will be working with all the kids on their turns and finishes.
Griffin Wolner swam a solid 100 IM "B" time in 1:36.24 for 13the place , a low "B" time in the 100 Breast of 1:41.37, (a new personal best time ) for 8th place. He also scored a solid "B" time of 34.69 in the 50 Free for 11th place.
Well done Wizards, you put out a great effort in a really big meet and did your club proud!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
St. Mary’s Cardinals taste victory three times in one afternoon in St. Paul
The SMU Cardinals saw a couple of victories on Saturday.
They men swam a double dual against Univ of St. Thomas and Hamline University. The Women swam a triple dual against Hamline, St. Kate’s and Augsburg.
The Men Cardinals won their contest against Hamline. The Women Cardinals won theirs against Augsburg and Hamline.
The SMU Lady Divers took 2-3 in 1 meter competition.
In the 200 Medley Relay the SMU Woemn took took 2nd overall. The SMU Men, Featuring John Fox in the Breatstroke and Tom Walsh on the Free anchor took 1st place in 1:44.52
In the 1000 Free, Cardinal Tom Walsh took 3rd swimming in 11:56.00
Men’s 100 Free, John Fox took 2nd in 52.00.
IN the Men’s 500 Free Tom Walsh took 5th in 5:40.37
In the 100 Breast, John Fox won in a 1:02.35
Hamline Invite - 11/7/2009
Men
Saint Mary's University 111.00 78.00 Hamline University
University of St. Thomas 183.00 44.00 Hamline University
Women
Hamline University 140.00 45.00 Augsburg College
Saint Mary's Univeristy 131.00 71.00 Augsburg College
St. Catherine University 190.00 27.00 Augsburg College
Saint Mary's Univeristy 121.00 95.00 Hamline University
St. Catherine University 165.00 57.00 Hamline University
St. Catherine University 178.00 54.00 Saint Mary's Univeristy
They men swam a double dual against Univ of St. Thomas and Hamline University. The Women swam a triple dual against Hamline, St. Kate’s and Augsburg.
The Men Cardinals won their contest against Hamline. The Women Cardinals won theirs against Augsburg and Hamline.
The SMU Lady Divers took 2-3 in 1 meter competition.
In the 200 Medley Relay the SMU Woemn took took 2nd overall. The SMU Men, Featuring John Fox in the Breatstroke and Tom Walsh on the Free anchor took 1st place in 1:44.52
In the 1000 Free, Cardinal Tom Walsh took 3rd swimming in 11:56.00
Men’s 100 Free, John Fox took 2nd in 52.00.
IN the Men’s 500 Free Tom Walsh took 5th in 5:40.37
In the 100 Breast, John Fox won in a 1:02.35
Hamline Invite - 11/7/2009
Men
Saint Mary's University 111.00 78.00 Hamline University
University of St. Thomas 183.00 44.00 Hamline University
Women
Hamline University 140.00 45.00 Augsburg College
Saint Mary's Univeristy 131.00 71.00 Augsburg College
St. Catherine University 190.00 27.00 Augsburg College
Saint Mary's Univeristy 121.00 95.00 Hamline University
St. Catherine University 165.00 57.00 Hamline University
St. Catherine University 178.00 54.00 Saint Mary's Univeristy
Friday, November 6, 2009
Minnesota harvests a pair of wins south of the border.
The University of Minnesota Gophers went to corn country to swim against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Gopher Men lead their series 44-39 but have dominated lately, putting their streak of nine straight wins in a row over Iowa on the line. The Women Gophers dominated Iowa last year and looked to repeat that outcome.
The Gopher Women came out strong going 1-3-4 in the 400Medley Relay. Abbey Staats swam the Anchor on the “C” Relay swimming a blistering 23.69 50FR.
In the 1000 Free, The Gopher Women went 1-2-3-5 and the Men went 1-2-4-5.
The 200 Free had Winonan Matt Papenfuss splashing for the first time of the evening in 1:43.44 scoring for the Gophers.
After some mixed results in the 100 Back, the 100 Breast saw the Gopher Women swim 1-2-3 and the Gopher Men 1-3-4-5.
The 200 Fly was a continuation with the Gopher Women swimming 1-2-3-5 and the Men 1-2-4.
The 50 Free saw the Gopher Women produce a 2-3-4-5 finish with 5th being Winona Abbey Staats in a time of 24.39. The Gopher Men went 1-2.
The Gopher Women dominated the 1 Meter Diving, going 1-2 and winning by 50+ points.
The 100 Free saw Abbey Staats bring home a 3rd place finish in 52.96 bracketed by her teammates taking 2-3-4-5. The Men’s 100 Free had Matt Papenfuss swim 7th in a time of 47.50.
The 500 Free had the Gopher Women start to swim Exhibition. Real time had them bring home 1-2-3 but they only got points for first. The Gopher men brought home 1-2-3-4.
Same for the 100 Fly the Gopher Women would have touched in 1-2-3.
The Gopher Women ran away with the 3 Meter Diving going 1-2 and outscoring the Iowa divers by 180 and 90 points respectively.
The 400 Fr Relay saw Abbey Staats swimming with the “A” Gopher Relay in the second spot. She swam a 52.42 leg and helped bring home a 2nd place. The Gopher Men’s event had Matt Papenfuss swimming with the Gopher “A” Relay the the 3rd position. He touched his leg in at 46.59 and they finished 3rd behind Iowa and the Gopher “B” Relay.
Finals Scores
1. University of Minnesota, Twin 176 2. University of Iowa, 118
1. University of Minnesota, Twin 184 2. University of Iowa, 114
The Gopher Women came out strong going 1-3-4 in the 400Medley Relay. Abbey Staats swam the Anchor on the “C” Relay swimming a blistering 23.69 50FR.
In the 1000 Free, The Gopher Women went 1-2-3-5 and the Men went 1-2-4-5.
The 200 Free had Winonan Matt Papenfuss splashing for the first time of the evening in 1:43.44 scoring for the Gophers.
After some mixed results in the 100 Back, the 100 Breast saw the Gopher Women swim 1-2-3 and the Gopher Men 1-3-4-5.
The 200 Fly was a continuation with the Gopher Women swimming 1-2-3-5 and the Men 1-2-4.
The 50 Free saw the Gopher Women produce a 2-3-4-5 finish with 5th being Winona Abbey Staats in a time of 24.39. The Gopher Men went 1-2.
The Gopher Women dominated the 1 Meter Diving, going 1-2 and winning by 50+ points.
The 100 Free saw Abbey Staats bring home a 3rd place finish in 52.96 bracketed by her teammates taking 2-3-4-5. The Men’s 100 Free had Matt Papenfuss swim 7th in a time of 47.50.
The 500 Free had the Gopher Women start to swim Exhibition. Real time had them bring home 1-2-3 but they only got points for first. The Gopher men brought home 1-2-3-4.
Same for the 100 Fly the Gopher Women would have touched in 1-2-3.
The Gopher Women ran away with the 3 Meter Diving going 1-2 and outscoring the Iowa divers by 180 and 90 points respectively.
The 400 Fr Relay saw Abbey Staats swimming with the “A” Gopher Relay in the second spot. She swam a 52.42 leg and helped bring home a 2nd place. The Gopher Men’s event had Matt Papenfuss swimming with the Gopher “A” Relay the the 3rd position. He touched his leg in at 46.59 and they finished 3rd behind Iowa and the Gopher “B” Relay.
Finals Scores
1. University of Minnesota, Twin 176 2. University of Iowa, 118
1. University of Minnesota, Twin 184 2. University of Iowa, 114
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The coming Weekend for Winona Swimmers
The Winona SHS Winhawks are in the throws of their end-of-season taper, working toward making their statement at the Section 1AA Swimming Championships.
In the mean time, all the other squads with Winona ties are busy.
The University of Minnesota Men & Women will be lapping the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City Friday night. Both Matt Papenfuss and Abbey Staats should be making the trip and I will report on how they and the Gophers do south of the border.
Also Friday night the Minnesota State University - Mankato Mavericks will swim at home against their rivals right up the road in St. Peter, Gustavus Adolphus. Mary Bastian will be looking to help her Mavericks get into the win column for the first time this season.
Saturday sees the Winona YMCA Winfins travel to Austin for the annual Pumpkin Relays. Usually the first meet of the season, the Winfins have their National Virtual meet under their belts so they should swim well in Austin.
The SMU Cardinals will travel to St. Paul and swim against the Pipers of Hamline. Both the schools squads, men & women are close in size so it should be a good competition. As soon as I see results I will let you know how Winonans John Fox and Aaron Hayes do, as well as our adopted Winonan Tom Walsh.
Also on Saturday UW-LaCrosse will drive past us to swim in Northfield at the Cows, Colleges, & Contentment Classic with Carlton and St. Olaf.
Sunday the Winona Wizards will be traveling to Farmington for the Tigershark Thanksgiving Classic. Shannon Wolner will be directing some Wizards while they compete with 650 other USA swimmers in the second open ABC meet of the season which appears to be a very popular weekend.
I will try to post all the results as they become available.
In the mean time, all the other squads with Winona ties are busy.
The University of Minnesota Men & Women will be lapping the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City Friday night. Both Matt Papenfuss and Abbey Staats should be making the trip and I will report on how they and the Gophers do south of the border.
Also Friday night the Minnesota State University - Mankato Mavericks will swim at home against their rivals right up the road in St. Peter, Gustavus Adolphus. Mary Bastian will be looking to help her Mavericks get into the win column for the first time this season.
Saturday sees the Winona YMCA Winfins travel to Austin for the annual Pumpkin Relays. Usually the first meet of the season, the Winfins have their National Virtual meet under their belts so they should swim well in Austin.
The SMU Cardinals will travel to St. Paul and swim against the Pipers of Hamline. Both the schools squads, men & women are close in size so it should be a good competition. As soon as I see results I will let you know how Winonans John Fox and Aaron Hayes do, as well as our adopted Winonan Tom Walsh.
Also on Saturday UW-LaCrosse will drive past us to swim in Northfield at the Cows, Colleges, & Contentment Classic with Carlton and St. Olaf.
Sunday the Winona Wizards will be traveling to Farmington for the Tigershark Thanksgiving Classic. Shannon Wolner will be directing some Wizards while they compete with 650 other USA swimmers in the second open ABC meet of the season which appears to be a very popular weekend.
I will try to post all the results as they become available.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Winhawks mirror their dual meet season at Big 9 Conference Meet.
The Winona Winhawk Girls’ Swimming Team went into the Big 9 meet having defeated, Rochester Mayo, Austin & Albert Lea, and fallen to Owatonna, Faribault, Rochester JM & Rochester Century. At the completion of the Big 9 Meet, the landscape looked similar, only now the Winhawks could add Mankato East & West to the defeated column. Winona finished 5th behind those same teams that caused them difficulty in the dual meet season. Of course Rochester JM beat up on everybody and the Faribault Falcons beat up on everyone but JM, so the Winhawks had their sights set on Owatonna, which was their closest dual meet of the season. The two teams finished 50 points apart in the end, which in Championship scoring isn’t much of a difference. Not knowing who was tapered and who will be swimming what events, the Section 1AA meet will be a great contest to watch.
The Winhawks came ready to swim and dive and appeared to have put trick or treating on the back burner and out of their minds. In spite of still working hard and only in the early throws of tapering, there were some excellent swims, some seasonal and individual bests and gusty performances.
The Diving prelims and semi-finals were held in the AM. Coach JJ had to get Crystal Franswa and Janelle Mueller up early to head to Albert Lea HS on their own. Warm-ups were at 9 and diving started at 10AM. There were 35 divers competing which made for a long warm-up and a lot of time to watch the others and contemplate. Being a championship meet, divers need to have an eleven dive list, 5 required dives and 6 optional dives. Winhawk 8th grader Janell Mueller looked a little nervous on her first dive, a Forward dive pike position, rushing it a little bit and caused the judges some issues on how to judge it. After that she settled down nicely. Her next three dives all scored 20+ points. She got good height on her Forward 1 1/2ss pike and a very pretty Back dive layout that scored her 3.5 up to 5’s. She ended up just missing the cut to semi-finals by a few points and will take some added experience into Sections. Winhawk 9th Grader Crystal Franswa was pretty consistent through out her competition. Her opening dive, a Front 1 ½ ss pike went for 4.5’s to 5.5’s and got her going well. Her final dive of the prelims, a Front 2ss in pike position scored only 3.0 – 4.5’s but the higher 2.2 degree of difficulty scored her 25.30 points and made a good transition into the semi-finals. She got a great lead-off in the Semi’s with a beautiful Back Dive layout that scored 4.5 to 6.0’s. Next she threw a newer dive for her, a Forward 1 ½ SS with 1 twist (I only recall one other diver trying it on Saturday). A little loose, the judges were widely dispersed in scores from 1.5 to 4.0, but that higher DD of 2.2 scored her 22 points, well worth the risk of throwing it. She finished the semi’s with a pretty Reverse Dive Layout scoring 4.0 – 5.5’s for a 183.95 subtotal and 11th place going into the Finals in the afternoon. Diving has an unpredictable element to it for the coaches and the divers, as to where you stand. Some divers save their best dives for last, so they know psychologically the best is yet to come. Others throw their “bread & butter” dives early to get high in the standings early and try to ride the wave into the finals to make sure they get there. So the divers themselves rarely know what is to come in the finals, only that they have to focus on what they are doing, and let the chips fall where they may. Crystal saved her “good stuff” for the Finals leading off with a Forward 1ss with 2 twists, a DD of 2.3 that netted her 28.60 points. She followed up with a beautiful Inward 1 ½ ss tuck that went for 5.5 – 6.5’s and 37.4 points. She wrapped up Finals with a Back 1ss with 2 ½ twists, DD of 2.7. The Degrees of Difficulty range from 1.0 – 3.1, so the DD of 2.7 is about as hard a dive as there is on 1 meter board. She scored 3.0 – 4.0 for the dive but that high DD got her 27.00 points. Her final 3 dives lifted her up two spots to finish 9th and a promising outlook for Sections!
On a personal note, I really wish there was a way we could get the diving boards back to the HS so swimming & diving competitions reunite. The competition is worth the effort it would take.
The swimming got underway at 2PM and it was an exciting atmosphere. After months of duals meets against each other and a partially attended Section True Team, they were all together at once. The stands were packed to overflowing with attendants urging everyone to squeeze closer and closer together. Everyone, teams and parents were ready for a good meet.
The 200Medley Relay hasn’t been a strong point for the Winhawks all season but they gave it their all. The “B” relay of JR. Erin Bernardy, FR. Grace Ell, 8th Gr. McKenna Marg and JR. Taylor Johnson couldn’t score points (only one relay is allowed in Champ meets, the other swims exhibition) but they swam a good 2:10.93 that moved them a few places higher in the standings. The “A” Relay of JR Samantha Quandahl, 8th Gr Reese Galewski, FR Alexandra Zuelke and SR. Co-Captain Aimee Peterson all had good swims and it was necessary. Obviously the electricity of the meet had everyone inspired. The Winhawks were in a dead heat all the way through both Samantha’s and Reese’s BK and FL legs, Alexandra swam her best split of the season to open up a lead and Aimee swam her best freestyle split in 6 weeks allowing the Winhawks to maintain their 8th place seed and 0.3 seconds out of 7th. The Rochester JM team shattered the pool record by just over 2 seconds. This was the first indication this would be a hard fought day in the pool.
The 200FR led off with 8th Gr. Gabby Kleinow digging deep and pulling ahead in the last 25 yards to win the first heat, bettering her seed time by nearly 3 seconds. Haley O’Neil swam a gutsy race. Seeded sixth in her heat, she took the lead at the 100 and held it through the 150 mark falling back to touch 2nd in a season best 2:11.23. SO Olivia Staats swam a 2:10.64 for 15th place overall. The winning swimmer from JM again shattered the pool record by 3.5 seconds, a common theme for the rest of the day.
The 200IM started out with a season’s best swim from JR Mallory Porter, cutting over 4 seconds off her seed time. Fr Alexandra Zuelke’s swim produced the first referee issue. Everyone on the deck and in the stands saw Alex touch 2nd in her heat but her time on the Daktronics system scoreboard showed differently. After Coach Burt protested, the Scorer’s table had to defer to the Officials’ order of finish and subsequently the back-up times to correctly log her finish as 2:26.13 in 9th place only 0.3 seconds out of the medals.
The 50FR was one of the high points of the meet for the Winhawks. Being such a “quick” event and without having tapered yet, JR Taylor Johnson and SR Aimee Peterson swam their seed times and finished in 20th and 13th place respectively. JR Bridget Bawek swam her best time of the season to move up and medal in 5th place. SO MacKenzie Brosnahan, being the awesome utility swimmer that she is, swam the 50 for only the second time this season but set a new personal best at 24.95 moving up to 5th fastest ever as a Winhawk and good for a Big 9 2nd place medal.
The 100BF Saw JR Erin Bernardy swim a personal best 1:16.77, bettering her seed time by over 3 seconds and moving up over 9 spots in the final standings. One of the team leaders, JR. Samantha Quandahl swam a season best 1:04.00 moving up from 10th seed into the medals at 7th place.
The 100FR saw SR Co-Captain Aimee Peterson, who has been busy swimming the 500FR all season, swim a season best 59.02 and JR Bridget Bawek swam her fastest time in almost 2 months to bot score poins for the Winhawks. SO MacKenzie Brosnahan swam her second fastest 100 of the season, at 55.38 to medal again in 3rd place.
The 500FR delivered one of the most exciting races of the day. It is an event of the future for the Winhawks. All season long some of the utility Winhawk swimmers like Aimee Peterson, Samantha Quandahl and MacKenzie Brosnahan have plugged in to swim when needed. Here at Big 9 they were needed to swim elsewhere leaving the underclasswomen to fend for themselves. Winhawk 7th grader McKenzie Porter, one of only a half dozen 7th graders to compete at Big 9, rose to the challenge. Coach Burt instructed her to go out with and STAY with the 9th grader in the lane next to her, telling her exactly what he wanted her to do to accomplish it. An interesting side factor to the equation was that even though the swimmer was from Austin, McKenzie and the swimmer had befriended each other last summer during a weeks stay at the YMCA’s Camp Olsen. Although there was earlier pre-meet discussion and catch-up, there was no such interaction as they waited behind the blocks. Both knew what their mission was, to beat the other. McKenzie was so jazzed up to get going that she nearly jumped and almost false started. The Referee stood the swimmers up and after remaining motionless on the second try, sent them. McKenzie stayed right with the older “fellow camper”, causing what appeared to be some panic on the Austin swimmer’s part and a push early on that McKenzie matched. At the midway point, lap 11, McKenzie pulled ahead putting another scare into the 9th grader from Austin and the two went head to head for the remainder. The Austin swimmer could not let the younger upstart show her up and dug deep to pull out a victory in the last 25 yards with McKenzie touching a few seconds back in 6:18.29. McKenzie moved up 6 spots from her seed to 25th place in the final standings, improving her personal best by almost 5 seconds and earning a LOT of respect.
The 200 Free Relay, unlike the Medley, has been a high point for the Winhawks this season winning every dual meet contest but one. JR. Bridget Bawek, 8th Gr Haley O’Neil, SR. Co-Caption Aimee Peterson and SO MacKenzie Brosnahan swam a season best 144.92 to touch 2nd in their heat and take 3rd overall. A driven Owatonna relay had won the previous heat with a 2 ½ second time drop that took 2nd overall setting up a BIG show down for Sections. This performance also moved these girls up one notch to being the 5th fastest in Winhawk history, a half second behind the team of Jenny Bentley, Olson, Sarah Daniels and Becky Sutton way back in 1990.
The 100BK was an event of surprises and acknowledging hard work for the Winhawks. The event saw the first heat containing Winhawk JR Erika Jonsrud who was swimming the event for the first time. You wouldn’t have guessed it by her performance, executing her turns like a veteran and winning the heat and ultimately moving up 6 spots in the standings from her seed time to 26th place! Winhawk SO Olivia Staats came next, winning her heat in a personal best 1:07.74 and also moving up four spots to finish 14th overall. The last Winhawk to cash in on her hard work was JR Samantha Quandahl who swam a personal best 1:06.55 dropping 6 spots to finish in 10th place overall.
The 100BR saw Winhawk JR Taylor Johnson continue to get better and better. She swam a personal best for the fourth time this year, touching in 1:15.68 good for 10th place overall. The final heat featured Winhawk FR Alexandra Zuelke seeded 5th and medaling in that same spot. She swam a 1:13.39 just off her season’s best implying good things to come at Sections.
The 400 Free Relay has also been a strong point for the Winhawks winning every dual meet contest but one as well. Seeded third in the final heat, the Winhawks team led by JR. Bridget Bawek, SO Olivia Staats, SO MacKenzie Brosnahan and FR Alexandra Zuelke (who swam her fastest FR relay split ever at 56.95) edged out Faribault to medal 2nd overall.
Winhawk Big 9 - All Conference Selections:
Junior Bridget Bawek
Junior Samantha Quandahl
Sophomore MacKenzie Brosnahan
Freshman Alexandra Zuelke
Honorable Mention Big 9:
Senior Co-Captain Aimee Peterson
Final Standings
1st Rochester John Marshall 527 pts
2nd Faribault 299 pts
3rd Rochester Century 265 pts
4th Owatonna 251 pts
5th Winona 207 pts
6th Rochester Mayo 179 pts
7th tie Albert Lea & Austin 138 pts
9th Mankato West 128 pts
10th Mankato East 67 pts
A SPECIAL thanks to Jan Brosnahan for keeping all the swimmer and relay season statistics which make this blog so much more information filled on season performances.
The Winhawks came ready to swim and dive and appeared to have put trick or treating on the back burner and out of their minds. In spite of still working hard and only in the early throws of tapering, there were some excellent swims, some seasonal and individual bests and gusty performances.
The Diving prelims and semi-finals were held in the AM. Coach JJ had to get Crystal Franswa and Janelle Mueller up early to head to Albert Lea HS on their own. Warm-ups were at 9 and diving started at 10AM. There were 35 divers competing which made for a long warm-up and a lot of time to watch the others and contemplate. Being a championship meet, divers need to have an eleven dive list, 5 required dives and 6 optional dives. Winhawk 8th grader Janell Mueller looked a little nervous on her first dive, a Forward dive pike position, rushing it a little bit and caused the judges some issues on how to judge it. After that she settled down nicely. Her next three dives all scored 20+ points. She got good height on her Forward 1 1/2ss pike and a very pretty Back dive layout that scored her 3.5 up to 5’s. She ended up just missing the cut to semi-finals by a few points and will take some added experience into Sections. Winhawk 9th Grader Crystal Franswa was pretty consistent through out her competition. Her opening dive, a Front 1 ½ ss pike went for 4.5’s to 5.5’s and got her going well. Her final dive of the prelims, a Front 2ss in pike position scored only 3.0 – 4.5’s but the higher 2.2 degree of difficulty scored her 25.30 points and made a good transition into the semi-finals. She got a great lead-off in the Semi’s with a beautiful Back Dive layout that scored 4.5 to 6.0’s. Next she threw a newer dive for her, a Forward 1 ½ SS with 1 twist (I only recall one other diver trying it on Saturday). A little loose, the judges were widely dispersed in scores from 1.5 to 4.0, but that higher DD of 2.2 scored her 22 points, well worth the risk of throwing it. She finished the semi’s with a pretty Reverse Dive Layout scoring 4.0 – 5.5’s for a 183.95 subtotal and 11th place going into the Finals in the afternoon. Diving has an unpredictable element to it for the coaches and the divers, as to where you stand. Some divers save their best dives for last, so they know psychologically the best is yet to come. Others throw their “bread & butter” dives early to get high in the standings early and try to ride the wave into the finals to make sure they get there. So the divers themselves rarely know what is to come in the finals, only that they have to focus on what they are doing, and let the chips fall where they may. Crystal saved her “good stuff” for the Finals leading off with a Forward 1ss with 2 twists, a DD of 2.3 that netted her 28.60 points. She followed up with a beautiful Inward 1 ½ ss tuck that went for 5.5 – 6.5’s and 37.4 points. She wrapped up Finals with a Back 1ss with 2 ½ twists, DD of 2.7. The Degrees of Difficulty range from 1.0 – 3.1, so the DD of 2.7 is about as hard a dive as there is on 1 meter board. She scored 3.0 – 4.0 for the dive but that high DD got her 27.00 points. Her final 3 dives lifted her up two spots to finish 9th and a promising outlook for Sections!
On a personal note, I really wish there was a way we could get the diving boards back to the HS so swimming & diving competitions reunite. The competition is worth the effort it would take.
The swimming got underway at 2PM and it was an exciting atmosphere. After months of duals meets against each other and a partially attended Section True Team, they were all together at once. The stands were packed to overflowing with attendants urging everyone to squeeze closer and closer together. Everyone, teams and parents were ready for a good meet.
The 200Medley Relay hasn’t been a strong point for the Winhawks all season but they gave it their all. The “B” relay of JR. Erin Bernardy, FR. Grace Ell, 8th Gr. McKenna Marg and JR. Taylor Johnson couldn’t score points (only one relay is allowed in Champ meets, the other swims exhibition) but they swam a good 2:10.93 that moved them a few places higher in the standings. The “A” Relay of JR Samantha Quandahl, 8th Gr Reese Galewski, FR Alexandra Zuelke and SR. Co-Captain Aimee Peterson all had good swims and it was necessary. Obviously the electricity of the meet had everyone inspired. The Winhawks were in a dead heat all the way through both Samantha’s and Reese’s BK and FL legs, Alexandra swam her best split of the season to open up a lead and Aimee swam her best freestyle split in 6 weeks allowing the Winhawks to maintain their 8th place seed and 0.3 seconds out of 7th. The Rochester JM team shattered the pool record by just over 2 seconds. This was the first indication this would be a hard fought day in the pool.
The 200FR led off with 8th Gr. Gabby Kleinow digging deep and pulling ahead in the last 25 yards to win the first heat, bettering her seed time by nearly 3 seconds. Haley O’Neil swam a gutsy race. Seeded sixth in her heat, she took the lead at the 100 and held it through the 150 mark falling back to touch 2nd in a season best 2:11.23. SO Olivia Staats swam a 2:10.64 for 15th place overall. The winning swimmer from JM again shattered the pool record by 3.5 seconds, a common theme for the rest of the day.
The 200IM started out with a season’s best swim from JR Mallory Porter, cutting over 4 seconds off her seed time. Fr Alexandra Zuelke’s swim produced the first referee issue. Everyone on the deck and in the stands saw Alex touch 2nd in her heat but her time on the Daktronics system scoreboard showed differently. After Coach Burt protested, the Scorer’s table had to defer to the Officials’ order of finish and subsequently the back-up times to correctly log her finish as 2:26.13 in 9th place only 0.3 seconds out of the medals.
The 50FR was one of the high points of the meet for the Winhawks. Being such a “quick” event and without having tapered yet, JR Taylor Johnson and SR Aimee Peterson swam their seed times and finished in 20th and 13th place respectively. JR Bridget Bawek swam her best time of the season to move up and medal in 5th place. SO MacKenzie Brosnahan, being the awesome utility swimmer that she is, swam the 50 for only the second time this season but set a new personal best at 24.95 moving up to 5th fastest ever as a Winhawk and good for a Big 9 2nd place medal.
The 100BF Saw JR Erin Bernardy swim a personal best 1:16.77, bettering her seed time by over 3 seconds and moving up over 9 spots in the final standings. One of the team leaders, JR. Samantha Quandahl swam a season best 1:04.00 moving up from 10th seed into the medals at 7th place.
The 100FR saw SR Co-Captain Aimee Peterson, who has been busy swimming the 500FR all season, swim a season best 59.02 and JR Bridget Bawek swam her fastest time in almost 2 months to bot score poins for the Winhawks. SO MacKenzie Brosnahan swam her second fastest 100 of the season, at 55.38 to medal again in 3rd place.
The 500FR delivered one of the most exciting races of the day. It is an event of the future for the Winhawks. All season long some of the utility Winhawk swimmers like Aimee Peterson, Samantha Quandahl and MacKenzie Brosnahan have plugged in to swim when needed. Here at Big 9 they were needed to swim elsewhere leaving the underclasswomen to fend for themselves. Winhawk 7th grader McKenzie Porter, one of only a half dozen 7th graders to compete at Big 9, rose to the challenge. Coach Burt instructed her to go out with and STAY with the 9th grader in the lane next to her, telling her exactly what he wanted her to do to accomplish it. An interesting side factor to the equation was that even though the swimmer was from Austin, McKenzie and the swimmer had befriended each other last summer during a weeks stay at the YMCA’s Camp Olsen. Although there was earlier pre-meet discussion and catch-up, there was no such interaction as they waited behind the blocks. Both knew what their mission was, to beat the other. McKenzie was so jazzed up to get going that she nearly jumped and almost false started. The Referee stood the swimmers up and after remaining motionless on the second try, sent them. McKenzie stayed right with the older “fellow camper”, causing what appeared to be some panic on the Austin swimmer’s part and a push early on that McKenzie matched. At the midway point, lap 11, McKenzie pulled ahead putting another scare into the 9th grader from Austin and the two went head to head for the remainder. The Austin swimmer could not let the younger upstart show her up and dug deep to pull out a victory in the last 25 yards with McKenzie touching a few seconds back in 6:18.29. McKenzie moved up 6 spots from her seed to 25th place in the final standings, improving her personal best by almost 5 seconds and earning a LOT of respect.
The 200 Free Relay, unlike the Medley, has been a high point for the Winhawks this season winning every dual meet contest but one. JR. Bridget Bawek, 8th Gr Haley O’Neil, SR. Co-Caption Aimee Peterson and SO MacKenzie Brosnahan swam a season best 144.92 to touch 2nd in their heat and take 3rd overall. A driven Owatonna relay had won the previous heat with a 2 ½ second time drop that took 2nd overall setting up a BIG show down for Sections. This performance also moved these girls up one notch to being the 5th fastest in Winhawk history, a half second behind the team of Jenny Bentley, Olson, Sarah Daniels and Becky Sutton way back in 1990.
The 100BK was an event of surprises and acknowledging hard work for the Winhawks. The event saw the first heat containing Winhawk JR Erika Jonsrud who was swimming the event for the first time. You wouldn’t have guessed it by her performance, executing her turns like a veteran and winning the heat and ultimately moving up 6 spots in the standings from her seed time to 26th place! Winhawk SO Olivia Staats came next, winning her heat in a personal best 1:07.74 and also moving up four spots to finish 14th overall. The last Winhawk to cash in on her hard work was JR Samantha Quandahl who swam a personal best 1:06.55 dropping 6 spots to finish in 10th place overall.
The 100BR saw Winhawk JR Taylor Johnson continue to get better and better. She swam a personal best for the fourth time this year, touching in 1:15.68 good for 10th place overall. The final heat featured Winhawk FR Alexandra Zuelke seeded 5th and medaling in that same spot. She swam a 1:13.39 just off her season’s best implying good things to come at Sections.
The 400 Free Relay has also been a strong point for the Winhawks winning every dual meet contest but one as well. Seeded third in the final heat, the Winhawks team led by JR. Bridget Bawek, SO Olivia Staats, SO MacKenzie Brosnahan and FR Alexandra Zuelke (who swam her fastest FR relay split ever at 56.95) edged out Faribault to medal 2nd overall.
Winhawk Big 9 - All Conference Selections:
Junior Bridget Bawek
Junior Samantha Quandahl
Sophomore MacKenzie Brosnahan
Freshman Alexandra Zuelke
Honorable Mention Big 9:
Senior Co-Captain Aimee Peterson
Final Standings
1st Rochester John Marshall 527 pts
2nd Faribault 299 pts
3rd Rochester Century 265 pts
4th Owatonna 251 pts
5th Winona 207 pts
6th Rochester Mayo 179 pts
7th tie Albert Lea & Austin 138 pts
9th Mankato West 128 pts
10th Mankato East 67 pts
A SPECIAL thanks to Jan Brosnahan for keeping all the swimmer and relay season statistics which make this blog so much more information filled on season performances.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
