MONROE — The Monroe-New Glarus CheeseKnights swim team held its home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Though the MNG squad ultimately came up short 123-44 to Madison Edgewood, one of the state’s premier programs, the team used the meet as a measuring stick — and as an enjoyable experience to swim in front of family and friends in their home pool.
“It’s nice not having to travel too far and to be able to have some family come support us. There’s a little bit more of a home crowd,” MNG head coach Rachel Root said.
“It definitely gives us lots of encouragement, and it makes us want to be here. And we just have more fun,” said junior Lauren Zentner.
Zentner had one of two victories for MNG in the dual meet. She finished the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 29.50 seconds, more than a full second faster than Edgewood’s Siobhan Ferris (30.60) and Jenna Koel (30.72). Senior Hadleigh Shunk had the first-place finish for the CheeseKnights, winning the 100-meter backstroke (1:09.31) by nearly 7 seconds.
“It was a little scary just seeing their numbers,” Zentner said. “But as you get in the water, you just have to make the best out of it and have fun with it. That’s what we did. We had a very positive environment today. It was a fun meet.”
The CheeseKnights finished second in the opening race of the night, the 200-meter medley relay. MNG’s quartet of Shunk, Zentner, Lauryn Arnett and Kennedy Sysko finished the race in 2:21.23, about eight seconds behind Edgewood.
Shunk took off a second in the 200 Individual Medley (2:39.29), finishing less than half a second behind winner Maggie Mulligan of Edgewood.
“Kennedy Shunk dropped a full second in both her 50 Free and 100 Free,” MNG coach Rachel Root said.
Monroe-New Glarus is back in action at the Fort Atkinson triple dual with Portage/Poynette on Sept. 22. The following week, MNG is at Lodi. The next home meet is Oct. 6 against Mount Horeb.
“The exciting part is they are feeling sore and tired, which is exactly what you want,” Root said. “During the dual meets, it’s fast-paced everything, like practice is. Once you get to the bigger meets, you have multiple heats between events so you actually get some rest between your primary ones versus a dual is a lot of back-to-back swimming.”
Root said swimming at the renovated Green County Family YMCA has had its perks so far this fall.
“They like the air quality button to help improve their breathing and stuff. At practices that helps out a little bit,” Root said.
While the squad has lower overall numbers than in years past, Root said the team dynamic as a whole has been positive.
“They support one another and they push each other. Some of our girls that have more experience have helped out some of the newer swimmers, and they push each other to be faster and work harder in practice,” Root said.
Root said that among the less experienced is Damaris Jimenez Lara, who just learned to swim last year. “She had no swimming experience. It was exciting today when she pulled out a flip turn on her backstroke. That was a huge accomplishment for her. (And she) dropped an incredible 7 seconds from her lifetime-best time,” Root said. “It’s just fun to watch them just progress, and I know that their confidence increases. Their overall experience has been really positive.”
