MADISON — Mekenzie Hammer is a state champion again. The Monroe-New Glarus sophomore entered the WIAA Division 2 state meet Nov. 9 at the UW-Natatorium as the top seed in the 200-yard individual medley and held her spot with a school record 2:08.37, nearly 7/10ths of a second ahead of second place Anna Aleniczak of New Berlin Eisenhower.

“It was amazing,” Hammer said. “I was nervous and exceeded my expectations. I just gave it my all and attacked the water.”

Cheesemakers coach Linda Moser said she saw something a little extra in Hammer on the swim.

“Her freestyle and breaststroke are her two weakest events, and she came out roaring,” Moser said. “She worked really hard in the last year, especially on her breaststroke, and it made a real difference.”

Hammer becomes the second swimmer in school history with at least two state titles, joining Ellie (Radke) Cianfrini, who swam from 2002-05.

Hammer tried to defend her 2017 title in the 100-yard backstroke, but finished third. Her time of 57.88 seconds was faster than her championship swim a year ago, which goes to show the competition she faced this year. McFarland freshman Mara Freeman (56.50) took first and Madison Edgewood freshman Anna teDuits (57.11) was second.

“I know those girls and I’m really happy for them,” Hammer said. “At state this year I swam even better than last year.”

The UW-Natatorium is notorious for its extra-loud atmosphere, but Hammer said when she’s in the water none of that bothers her.

“I usually don’t hear anything, really, except maybe the water splashing. Sometimes I listen for my teammates cheering me on,” Hammer said.

Hammer swam in four races at the state meet — two individual and two relays. She said it’s the relays that make her nervous.

“I feel like the relays are more stressful, because I don’t want to let my team down. Not that they would think I’m letting them down, though,” Hammer said.

Hammer swam in the 200-medley relay, 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke and 400 freestyle relay.

Morgan Erstad, a Monroe-New Glarus freshman, finished fifth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.48 seconds, moving up a spot from her seed.

“Morgan got to a 58. I’m really happy for her,” Hammer said. 

Erstad, Hammer and freshmen Alyssa Roelli and Karley Michels opened the state meet with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a new school-record time of 1:52.37. Erstad, Hammer and Francesca and Nina Schiro then closed the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay — again with a new school record (3:38.38). All four Cheesemakers in the freestyle relay swam their portion of the race in under 55 seconds.

“They were on fire behind the blocks in both relay races. Everybody PRed (person record). Everybody moved up a seed, except for Mekenzie — and she still swam faster races than her seed time,” Moser said. “All four swam a 54 in the 400. It was a perfect end to an amazing season.”

Nina Schiro and Erstad hit the water in the 500-freestyle and made waves of their own. Erstad set a new school record with a 5:16.10, which was good enough for sixth, while Schiro was 14th with a personal best time of 5:27.04.

“Morgan, for being a freshman, knew what she needed to accomplish. She was not scared to death,” Moser said. “Nina was nervous here two years ago, but history did not repeat itself. She’s a senior who had been there before, and she went out and PRed and swam her best time ever.”

Hammer was proud of her senior teammate, who reached the podium for the first time ever in her final prep race.

“I’m so proud of her. I love my teammates so much,” she said.

 “I’m so proud of all the girls — all 26 of them. It was an amazing season, one that I will never forget,” Moser said of her program. “Seeing them watching, seeing what Kenzie, Morgan, Nina and Frannie would do — this group and our freshmen are going to keep pressing now and keep going.”

Madison Edgewood walked away with the team title, scoring 328.5 points to second-place McFarland’s 209. Monroe finished sixth with 118, behind Tomahawk (164), Greendale (143.5) and Baraboo (134).

Next year Francesca Schiro and Hammer will be juniors and no longer underclassmen. That means the leadership roles will likely expand, not that Moser thinks it will be a problem.

“(Mekenzie) is one of those that is not selfish. She’ll be in the pool helping other girls out with their strokes all the time. There are no secrets, she’s out there to help,” Moser said.

Hammer said it is just part of being a team.

“I really like helping other swimmers. It helps me connect with them. It’s all a team effort and we all do our part,” Hammer said.