MONROE — In the blink of an eye, the Monroe-New Glarus swimming season is almost over.

The Cheesemakers toppled Stoughton March 16 for its second dual win of the season in four meets. However, there is just one more regular season competition remaining.

“Mentally, this is a different challenge for them. But they all know that we have to take advantage of the season when we have it,” said Kendra Kalvin, Monroe-New Glarus head coach. 

“We’re looking forward to — in a bittersweet sort of way — the next meet, knowing that it will be the last home meet for the seniors,” Kalvin said of the upcoming March 23 dual against Oregon. The following Tuesday, March 30, MNG will partake in the WIAA sectional at Beloit, with the state meet slated for April 6 at the Waukesha Natatorium.

In the 107-63 win over Stoughton, MNG won 7 of the 11 races. In fact, the Cheesemakers swept the Top-3 spots in three separate races — the 200-meter individual medley, 100-freestyle, and 100-breaststroke. The sweeps meant MNG outscored the Vikings 13-3 in each event, a 30-point advantage overall.

“I think they looked really, really good. Because of the weather (Monday) we didn’t have practice, but I think that was kind of a blessing in disguise, because it made them even readier for tonight,” Kalvin said.

Freshman Riley Hoesly won the 200 IM (2:45.34), with junior Kaitlyn Elgin (2:49.06) second and senior Anna Newcomer (2:56.41) third. Freshman Keeley Mulligan won the 100-free (1:09.28), finishing just ahead of senior teammate Kendra Wenger (1:09.77), while Newcomer was third (1:11.95) by over 8 seconds. In the 100-breaststroke, junior Karley Michels took first overall (1:24.45), with junior Peyton Yaun finishing second (1:26.04) and junior Elsa Schaefer third (1:28.30).

“We had a lot of best times tonight, which being in this awkward part of the season is kind of nice,” Kalvin said.

In the 100-butterfly, MNG junior Samantha Schiro took first (1:17.20), with Schaefer third (1:21.87). Hoesly won the 100-backstroke (1:14.09), with Schiro second (1:20.08).

Michels was second in the 200-free (2:41.42), less than 3 seconds behind Stoughton’s Lillian Talbert. MNG junior Taylor Rufer was third (2:44.78). 

Francesca Schiro dabbled in the shortest and longest raes of the evening. The New Glarus senior was second in the 50-free (29.36), finishing 1.14 seconds being Stoughton’s Savy Borroughs. The later finished second to Borroughs in the 400-free by less than four seconds (4:57.85 to 5:01.73).

“She did amazing in the 50-free and the 400 — which is a weird combination of races,” Kalvin said.

MNG’s 200-medley relay team of Hoesly, Michels, Mulligan and Francesca Schiro finished first (2:16.33) in the opening race of the night. MNG was also first in the 200-free relay (2:05.33), with Francesca Schiro, Mulligan, Hoesly and Wenger teaming together. 

Stoughton won the final race of the night, the 400-free relay (4:41.41), with Wenger, Samantha Schiro, Newcomer and Elgin finishing second (4:45.87).

As the results indicate, there is balanced depth across all four grades for the Cheesemakers. It gives Kalvin options of how to set her lineup each race. 

“It’s such a blessing. I feel like this year we’ve played with our roster and our entries a little bit more, switching things around and trying different combinations — which I think will help us out in the future. The team is only going to get stronger in the coming years with the team that is coming up,” Kalvin said.

Kalvin herself opened the season under two-week quarantine, so she had to watch meets from home, which made it tougher to help the swimmers, given the truncated season. 

“It was tough. It was hard to watch from the livestream and not experience the swims and give tips and be able to motivate the swimmers. But I feel like now that I’m back it’s almost sweeter,” Kalvin said. “We don’t take anything for granted. Every practice we’re able to be here for is really exciting.