MONROE — The Cheesemakers have reached the homestretch of the swimming season and the effort is beginning to pay off.

“They looked awesome in the water tonight,” Monroe-New Glarus head coach Linda Moser said. “I was very proud of them. They didn’t give up. They encourage each other all the time and that really helps.”

The Cheesemakers knocked off Fort Atkinson in a Badger South dual Tuesday 118-52, winning 9 of 11 races on Senior Night. Monroe-New Glarus is graduating five seniors: Nina Schiro, Cammi Ganshert, Emily Meritt, Linnea Tabaka and Anna Latimer.

“I’ve been swimming for three years and it’s one of the fun sports I do, so it’s a little bittersweet to finish up,” Ganshert said. “I’m happy that the season is coming to an end because I’m ready to play hockey and run and graduate.”

Ganshert and Schiro teamed up with freshman Karley Michels and sophomore Mekenzie Hammer to win the first race of the night — the 200-meter Medley Relay — by more than five seconds with a time of 2:13.73. 

Ganshert finished the night with two firsts and two second-place finishes. Sophomore Francesca Schiro (29.18 seconds) topped her in the 50-freestyle (30.14), but Ganshert teamed up with Francesca and freshmen Alyssa Roelli and Morgan Erstad in the 200-freestyle relay for a first-place finish (1:58.44), nearly six seconds ahead of Fort Atkinson’s quartet. In the final event of the night, Ganshert, Roelli and sophomores Anna Newcomer and Kendra Wenger took second (4:34.44) to teammates Hammer, Erstad and Nina and Francesca Schiro (4:17.31). 

“I’ve grown a lot from last year to even this year. I’m getting faster, my times are getting to where they’re supposed to be,” Ganshert said.

Erstad broke her own school record in the 400-freestyle with a time of 4:49.77, with Nina Schiro taking second (5:00.58). Nina Schiro also took second in the 100 backstroke (1:13.06) behind Hammer (1:06.85) and ahead of third-place freshman teammate Kaitlyn Elgin (1:15.52).

“Right now is where I want to be, but I know I have to improve before the end of the season so I can end my senior year strong and make it to state,” Nina Schiro said, adding that how she closes her senior year will determine if she swims in college next year.

Monroe-New Glarus swept the top three spots in the 200-individual medley with Hammer (2:31.01) taking top honors followed by Roelli (2:47.12) and Michels (2:52.95). Roelli also had a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:15.51), under four seconds behind Fort Atkinson’s Emmi Belzer (1:11.59). Michels won the 100 breaststroke (1:23.25) by 1.3 seconds ahead of Belzer, and in the meet’s closest race of the night, Erstad (2:14.26) narrowly edged Fort’s Mariah Marowsky (2:14.38) in the 200-freestyle by 12/100ths of a second thanks to a late push down the final 20 meters.

Other top scorers for the Cheesemakers include Francesca Schiro’s second-place finish in the 100-freestyle (1:03.84), 97/100ths of a second behind Marowsky, and Elgin’s third-place finish in the 50-freestyle (31.48).

Nina Schiro said that while facing her senior season is sad, getting a chance to spend her senior year with her two sisters, Francesca and Samantha, a freshman, has been “really cool for all of us.”

“It’s definitely hard because we are always together, so it can get to be a lot. But it’s also kind of nice because we’re always there for each other and at home we have the same routines because we’re always doing the same thing,” Nina said, adding that her rivalry in the water is strongest with Francesca. “We’re kind of really hand-in-hand on the freestyle. We’re in the relay together. We had our sister relay last year, and that competition pushes both of us.”

The Cheesemakers are back in the pool today at the Fort Atkinson Invitational, then travel to Monona Grove Tuesday for another conference dual meet before closing out the regular season at the UW-Platteville Invitational Oct. 20 and the conference meet in Stoughton Oct. 27. Sectionals will be held Nov. 2 at Baraboo with state schedule for Nov. 9 at the UW-Natatorium in Madison.

“(They need to) start fine-tuning everything — working on those turns, working on those hands, working on all of those things — they are going to do something at sectionals because they are a strong team,” Moser said.