Seniors Whyte and O'Neill switch events for a night

The Winona Winhawk girls swimming and diving team (6-3), took on the defending Section 1AA champion Rochester Mayo Spartans in a tough dual meet in Rochester last(Thursday) night. See attached results.

Coach Ali stated after the meet, “We knew that our girls were going to struggle against the speed and depth of Mayo, therefore we decided to swim some off events(meaning the girls didn’t swim their normal events). Many of the girls had some fantastic swims and we look forward to what the future brings for the younger girls who expanded their capabilities.”

The night started with the 200 medley relay in which the Winhawks placed 2nd in with a time of 2:03.90. The Winhawks also placed 4th and 6th.

The 200 free featured some of the younger swimmers with freshman Lauren Whyte leading the charge and finishing 3rd, followed by freshman Grace Miller and 8th grader Kaylee Niemeyer in 5th and 6th respectively.

For the 200IM, we gave Alex Arnold a rest from this event, but our younger swimmers 9th grader Morgan Drazkowski, 8th grader Mary Hoffman, and 8th grader Anni Skillicorn swam very well and took 3rd, 5th and 6th places respectively.

The 50 free was a very intense and close race with spectators cheering loudly! Sophomore Alexa Lofgren had the top finish of 2nd place but seniors Morgan Whyte and Hanna O’Neill finished just behind her in 5th and 6th. Alexa Lofgren swam a 26.56 just out touching the Mayo swimmer Erin Todd who swam a 26.58. Morgan Whyte swam a 27.65 and Hanna O'Neill swam a 28.04

Diving – Senior Hayley Gerdes finished 2nd with a score of 184.2 and Senior Emilee Degnan finished 3rd in diving with a score of 183.7.

Senior Morgan Whyte and Senior Hanna O'Neill swapped their normal events for the evening, to try eachother's events on for size. Morgan Whyte competed in the 100 fly for the first time finishing 4th with a time of 1:12.37. Hanna O'Nell swam the 500 free for the first time since 8th grade year, finishing with a time of 6:06.62.

8th grader Mary Hoffman continues to shine in the 100 Fly finishing 3rd wtih a time of 1:10.58. The last time an 8th grader went this fast in the Fly was Reese Galewski, the current 100fly record holder for the HS. Junior Harper O'Neill her season best in the 100 Fly finishing 5th with a time of 1:12.41

100FR Alex Arnold won with a time of 57.47 swimming one of her season best times, Annika Anderson and Abby Wehman finished out the 100 Freestyle with 5th and 6th respectively. Abbey Wehman has been sick and still competed well at the meet.

500’s were again showing the future depth of the Winhawks with Freshman Lauren Whyte leading the way touching in 3rd with a final time of 5:44.28. Junior Emily Boettger swam the 500 for the first time in over a year and dropped over a minute in her time from a 7:00+ to a 6:06.25. Senior Hanna O'Neill rounded out the 500 Free, swimming for the first time since 8th grade with a time of 6:06.62. Emily placed 5th and Hanna placed 6th.

200FR relays- The Winhawks placed 2nd, 4th and 5th. The second place team was comprised of Annika Anderson, Grace Miller, Morgan Drazkowski and Mary Hoffman. This team is made of 8th and 9th graders highlighting the future depth of the Winhawk team.

100 back- We gave Alexa Lofgren and Lauren Whyte a break from this race. Senior Alex Arnold swam the 100 Backstroke for the first time this season with a time of 1:08.04, finishing 1st and freshman Morgan Drazkowski swam her first 100 Backstroke in a few years with a time of 1:12.72 in 2nd. 8th grader Kaylee Niemeyer swam a time of 1:26.27 finishing in 3rd.

100 breast for the Winhawks was led by freshman Annika Anderson with a time of 1:18.66, followed closely by our regular Backstroker sophmore Alexa Logfren with a time of 1:20.31 and freshman Grace Miller not far behind with a time of 1:21.92. The girls finishing in 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

4x 100 Relay was another exciting close race to watch. The top finishing team of Winona was Morgan White, Hanna O'Neill, Alexa Logren and Alex Arnold with a final time of 3:59.21 placing 1st. Our other two relay teams finished 2nd and 3rd.

Meet thoughts- Mayo is a very strong and deep team and will contend for the Section 1AA championship again. However, the young Winhawk team put up a very good fight and showed that in a couple of years, they will be the team to beat. Why do we know that, because the JV squat easily beat Mayo 86 to 81 . For the JV squad to take a win vs Mayo it shows that the depth for the Winhawks is there, it’s just still developing. The future is promising for this young squad and soon they will be the ones looking forward to their Section championship!

The Winhawk swimmers are looking forward to their State True Team meet this Saturday up at the University of Minnesota, beginning at4pm! After placing 3rd this past weekend at the Section meet, the Winhawks were invited for the first time in team history, to participate in the State meet! The girls are looking forward to a challenging yet exciting meet!

The final score of the meet was Varsity: Mayo 85 Winona 79 JV: Mayo- 81

Winona 86