MONROE — The Monroe-New Glarus swimming season held its second meet of the season March 2 against Edgewood at the Green County Family YMCA. While the final score didn’t go in the Cheesemakers’ favor, the opportunity to simply be able to compete and race against an opposing school is what the team cherishes.

“Edgewood is a very competitive team with lots of depth and talented swimmers. We are thankful for the opportunity to race against them,” said MNG head coach Kendra Kalvin, who watched the meet from home due to quarantine measures. She is expected to be back on the pool deck before the team’s next meet March 9 against Monona Grove. All meets this season are on Tuesdays at home.

“This season is all about flexibility and having fun,” said MNG assistant Rachel Root, who presided over the team in the first two duals of the season. “When you think about it, they are having swim meets after only two weeks of practice, where in a normal season, they would be having their first meet after a month and a half of practice. So that is different, but they are really just excited to have a season.”

With a compacted season, things like endurance will be harder to come by. While many Edgewood swimmers compete year-round in club, regional or national circuits, the MNG team had to find its own time to get into the water, let alone to swim aggressively.

“The endurance is getting better as time goes on, and I think the girls are having an optimistic attitude throughout this and they are showing they’re getting better at the sprinting as they are having more practice with the racing,” Root said.

Edgewood defeated MNG 131-39. The Crusaders had a handful of state champions a year ago, and just as many with runner-up finishes. All but one of those swimmers returned this year.

Edgewood even broke its own pool record in the 400-meter relay with a time of 4:02.26, a record that the Crusaders had just broken the year before.

In the dual, MNG didn’t win any of the 11 races, but did take second three times and third five times.

In the 50-meter freestyle, Edgewood’s Anna TeDuits took first place with a time of 27.71 seconds, while MNG junior Morgan Erstad (29.20) and senior Francesca Schiro (29.40) were second and third. Schiro was second in the 100-freestyle (1:04.26), finishing less than 2 ½ seconds behind Edgewood’s Stacey Brynn.

MNG freshman Riley Hoesly was second in the 400-meter freestyle (5:09.46), finishing 9 seconds behind Edgewood’s Alex McClure.

“Our freshmen are doing well with expectations,” Root said. MNG has four freshmen on varsity this season. “They are showing up and doing a good job of fulfilling their expectations and putting in a good effort at practice, and just having that optimistic attitude.”

Having all meets at home as duals has both advantages and disadvantages. Root said it gives the girls more time in the water to work on their technique, but that the camaraderie takes a hit without the bus travel and high-energy of large multi-school events.

“We want the girls to have fun and make the most of what they have, so they are doing a good job of putting in effort at practice and having that optimistic, cheerful attitude,” Root said. “I think they definitely get excited with meets. They are getting used to this pool for sure — a lot of them have been swimming in this pool for a long time, so it’s nice to have the home feeling.”