Conference competition came to a dramatic close on Oct. 5 when Mound Westonka/Holy Family (MWHF) girls swim and dive squared off against the Delano Tigers.
MWHF captain Abigail Ries knew it was going to be a close meet. “They’re a powerhouse team, so we had to push ourselves to grab every extra fraction of a second in our races,” said Ries. For a program first, MWHF is conference champion. In an unusual turn of events, it’s a title they’ll share with Delano.
The meet was tied after the second, sixth, seventh and ninth of 12 varsity events. Delano had a six-point advantage going into the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 12th and final event of the meet which awards a total of 14 points: eight points to first place, four points to second place, and two points to third place in a field of six relay teams.
With the conference championship on the line, the packed house of onlookers was on their feet, creating a deafening roar in the Delano aquatic center. Delano was half of a body length ahead of MWHF going into the final 100-yard swim, but senior captain Catherine Dueck inched ahead, touching the wall 0:00.68 ahead of Delano to earn the team of Dueck, junior Grace Warden, junior captain Annemarie Johnson and ninth grader Laney Hendrickson a first-place finish. MWHF’s Ries, junior captain Onna Sullivan, ninth grader Jaylen Juras and sophomore Kayla Quandt out-swam Delano to finish third, earning MWHF a total of 10 points on the final relay with Delano earning four.
After 12 varsity events and a total of 186 points awarded throughout the evening, the meet ended with conference co-champions and a 93-93 tie. “We knew this would be a close one, and it sure was," said MWHF coach Ben Hanson, "I couldn’t be more proud of this team."
Consistency and depth in each event contributed to MWHF’s success. Sophomore diver Erica Johnson remains perfect in dual meet competition this season with another first-place finish. Ninth grader Jillian Schmitz and junior Callie Brown finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
Dueck had a perfect night in her individual events with a win in both the 200-yard individual medley (2:09.26) and 100-yard breaststroke. Dueck’s 2:09.26 finish in the IM was just a second off the Delano pool record. Teammates Ries and sophomore Amelia Olson finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the race. With a time of 1:07.07, Dueck finished more than 5 seconds ahead of Delano’s second-place finisher in the 100-yard breaststroke. Olson and Quandt finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Johnson also had a perfect night, bringing home first-place finishes in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. Johnson swam a 2:02.64 in the 200 for the win, with Warden and Hendrickson finishing third and fourth, respectively. Johnson raced a 5:32.01 in the 500, finishing ahead of teammate Hendrickson in second and ninth grader Chella Patterson in fifth place.
Juras won the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.11). Just 0:01 separated second and fourth places, with Ness earning second and Ries finishing fourth. Warden finished second (56.96) in the 100-yard freestyle with Sullivan and Quandt finishing third and fifth, respectively. MWHF finished third, fourth and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, with Sullivan (1:05.70) ahead of Patterson and junior Peyton Schmidt. Ness (26.46), Juras and sophomore Izzy Starr finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle.
Ness, Dueck, Juras and Sullivan took second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:53.78) with Schmidt, Olson, Ries and Starr finishing fourth. The team of Warden, Ness, Hendrickson and Johnson finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay ahead of sophomore Hayden Nichols, Schmidt, Olson and Starr.
With new conference champion banners on the way to Mound Westonka and Holy Family high schools, the team is focused on gearing up for section and state competitions in November.
The next competition for MWHF is the JV conference meet at Delano on Oct. 12, with the True Team Section Meet at Hutchinson on Oct. 14. MSHSL Section Competition is at Willmar, Nov. 10-12.
