MONROE — The Monroe-New Glarus swim team will have to navigate the loss of one of the best swimmers in program history this season. Two-time state champion Mekenzie Hammer graduated early and will not compete for MNG, and instead has joined former Green County YMCA coach Emily Paradis on the Verona Area Swim Team coaching staff until she begins competing at UW-Eau Claire next fall.
Luckily enough for MNG, a slew of talented seniors and juniors remain, plus strong underclassmen will join the varsity ranks this season.
“We have some strong seniors this year. We also have a very large junior class that has some great talent and depth,” head coach Kendra Kalvin said.
Top returners for MNG include state qualifiers Morgan Erstad, Karley Michels, Francesca Schiro and Kendra Wenger. Anna Newcomer, Taylor Rufer, Samantha Schiro, Kaitlyn Elgin, Elsa Schaefer and Peyton Yaun also competed at sectionals.
Erstad competed individually at state and was third in the 500-freestyle and seventh in the 100-back. Michels, Schiro and Wenger competed in relay events that took ninth and 13th.
Newcomers include Danika Doll, Riley Hoesly, Keeley Mulligan and Christina Foley, with junior Alyvia Schulz and sophomore Emily Sutter also expected to contribute more to the varsity team this season.
One of the strengths of the team is event flexibility. While each swimmer has a stroke or two stronger than the others, the team can adjust the heat sheet to best suit itself each race day.
“Our goals for our team are to demonstrate flexibility and understanding throughout the season,” Kalvin said, adding that “we want to continue to promote sportsmanship and a love of the sport and our team.”
Roster numbers are a bit lower this year, with COVID-19 playing a major factor in one way or another — either for health and safety, or just the shuffling of various sports between the Monroe and New Glarus communities. Kalvin said that a small team can bond very well, but that the lack of major meets and tournaments could also hamper that budding chemistry.
“Our team is very close-knit. Being a smaller team gives them the ability to really get to know each other and the best ways to support each other,” Kalvin said. “Like all other sports, the biggest challenge will be how to safely compete and practice with considerations to COVID-19. Some of the best parts of the swim season are the meets, tournaments, and opportunities you have to connect with your teammates, for example on the bus rides home from meets. If competitions are canceled, we will need to be creative to make sure this is still a priority and find a way to do this safely.”
The program opened the season Feb. 23 at home against DeForest, annually one of the best programs in the state. DeForest won 99-71. The team competed without fans, and without their head coach. Kalvin, a first grade teacher at Parkside, is under quarantine. Parkside’s COVID-19 outbreak since switching to B+ has 116 students and staff out due to COVID-19 as of Feb. 23. For MNG, assistant coach Rachel Root, a speech and language pathologist, is two weeks past her full vaccination and is running things while Kalvin is under quarantine.
Erstad was MNG’s only first-place varsity competitor against DeForest, winning the 200-free (2:17.67) by nearly 16 seconds.
