Winona Area Public SchoolsThe Winona Senior High School girls swimming and diving team showed off its depth in a 95-85 win over Faribault in the season opener Thursday night on the road.
“The girls have been working their butts off for the first two weeks of the season, so even though times were a bit higher than we anticipated, the girls squeezed out some good performances and showed some great depth,” coach Chris Mayer said. “Hopefully, this is a good sign for the rest of the season.”
The night began with a strong 200 medley going neck and neck with Faibault’s best. The Winhawks just got out touched at the finish, losing the race 2:02.03 to 2:02.70. Winona girls taking second were Anna MacLennan, Emily Robison, Kaylee Niemeyer, and Mary Hoffman. The Winhawks did squeeze in a third-place finish for 2 more points and that was the relay
team of Grace Nelson, Anna-Lee Landers, Tara Ziegeweid, and Ava Pike. They finished in 2:15.36.
Next up came the 200 freestyle. Faribault has the defending section champion in Abby Larson and she showed her dominance tonight as she ran away with the event in a state qualifying 1:56.41. Winona gave her a good fight for the first half of the race, but fatigue was a little too much in the second half. The Winhawks placed 2-3-4 in the race. Taking second in 2:05.65 was Carolyn Macon, in third was Kaylee Niemeyer in 2:19.71, and in fourth was Harper Wolner in 2:24.11.
The 200 individual medley was Winona’s highest scoring event as the Winhawks took the top three spots. Leading the charge for Winona was Anna MacLennan with her 2:43.23. Ava Pike was second with her 2:45.32, and adding that valuable third place was Anna-Lee Landers in 2:48.49.
Winona needed that score in the 200 IM because the Winhawks struggled just a little bit in the 50 free.
“We have some extremely strong swimmers, but our sprinting was a little off tonight,” Mayer said. “I guess four straight days of two practices has taken its toll.”
Mary Hoffman chased after Verity Wray-Raabolle but fell just short, taking second in 27.33. Winona also finished fifth in the event as Tara Ziegeweid raced to a
29.44.
The girls rocked the diving board as Issara Schmidt took first with 222.85 points, while Morgan Walker was right on her heels in second with 182.70 points. Ashlynn Full picked up a valuable fourth-place finish, scoring 111.75 points.
Faribault didn’t have any 100 butterfly entries, but the Winhawks still went out and swam great races against each other. Carolyn Macon took charge from the beginning and lead the whole way to win the race in 1:03.17. Kaylee Niemeyer is starting to like her transition to being a flyer and took second with her 1:13.49. Taking third was Ryka Parsi with a time of 1:19.39.
The 100 freestyle saw Abby Larson take charge.
“She turned some heads,” Mayer said.
From the dive she took off, Mayer said, and pounded her way to a quick 54.67, another state qualifying time. Winona finished third and fourth, with Emily Robison taking third in 1:03.52 and Ava Pike taking fourth in 1:04.01.
The Winhawks once again showed depth in the 500 freestyle as they took spots 2-3-4. Tara Ziegeweid fell just short at the end with her time of 6:11.81. Harper Wolner was right behind her finishing in 6:25.09. And taking that valuable fourth spot was Grace Nelson in 6:34.31.
Mayer said Nelson’s time was a 20-second drop from her best time last season.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Winona sent up a pretty strong lineup and gave Faribault a heck of a race. But the Winhawks got out-touched again.
“After watching a lot of the individual races, I knew our relays would struggle a bit with their speed,” Mayer said. “Our teams have a big focus on end of season performances, so struggling in early dual meets is somewhat normal for our teams. Our girls still turned in a great performance with their second-place finishing time of 1:51.48.”
That was the team of Carolyn Macon, Emily Robison, Ava Pike, and Harper Wolner.
The Winhawks also took third place in the race earning two valuable points. The team of Anna-Lee Landers, Ryka Parsi, Jillian Foss, and Ava Calvey finished in 1:58.68.
In backstroke, Verity Wray-Raabolle is the defending section champion, so the Winhawks knew she would be tough. Winona placed second, third and fifth. Mary Hoffman took second in 1:07.12, Anna MacLennan was third in 1:09.44, and Anna McCormick was fifth in 1:17.84.
Emily Robison had a come-from-behind victory in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:21.46. Emily touched the wall at the 75 mark in second place by almost a second, but had a very strong last 25 and got an inch in front of Faribault’s 1:21.59.
“A great swim from Emily!” Mayer said.
The Winahwks also took fourth and fifth in the event as Anna-Lee Landers swam a speedy 1:28.63 and Ava Calvey was right behind her in 1:29.34.
Heading into the 400 relay, the Winhawks had already won the meet from a points perspective, so the points did not officially count.
But the Winhawks took second in the race overall with a 4:06.81 with a team of Carolyn Macon, Kaylee Niemeyer, Harper Wolner and Mary Hoffman. The Winhawks also took third as Tara Ziegeweid, Grace Nelson, Anna McCormick, and Anna MacLennan raced to a 4:34.59.
“This was a wonderful first meet for the girls and hopefully it will help build a lot of confidence for this season,” Mayer said. “We have a very strong team, depth wise, and hopefully we can squeeze a few more meets out this way. Our top end will continue to get into shape and as the season progresses, I am really looking forward to how they do.”
Winona will host Rochester John Marshall at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5.
Boys soccer
Northfield 6, Winona 1: AJ Appicelli scored on a corner kick to cut into the Raiders' lead late in the first half, but Northfield added a late goal to stop the surge.
The Winhawks' JV team won 1-0 on a goal by Teis Larsen. The C squad won 3-0 thanks to a hat trick from Mason Mueller.
Girls tennis
Owatonna 7, Winona 0: The Winhawks were blanked by the Huskies on the road. The Winhawks are back in action this weekend in Menomonie.