MADISON — The WIAA Division 2 state swim meet always sends competitors and spectators home with memories to last a lifetime. At the 2019 state meet, two Monroe-New Glarus swimmers etched their efforts into various memory banks.

Junior Mekenzie Hammer and sophomore Morgan Erstad each medaled in individual races for the Cheesemakers, which competed in five events Nov. 15 at the UW-Natatorium.

“The leadership qualities that they both have — they both come in and put in the work and have a smile on their face the majority of the time — they are good role models for their teammates,” said Monroe-New Glarus assistant coach Rachel Root. 

Head coach Kendra Kalvin was glowing after her team’s performance on the state’s largest stage. She said the way the team bonded and prepared in the week leading up to the meet made the experience all the better.

“If they don’t love swimming, and they don’t love their team, then we wouldn’t have had a meet like we had tonight. Just being able to celebrate this past week with this team was awesome,” Monroe-New Glarus coach Kendra Kalvin said. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but they surpassed every single one of my expectations. This is an awesome group of girls and it was just a blast to see all of their hard work to pay off.”

Erstad was the sectional winner in the 500-yard freestyle and took third in the Division 2 finals with a time of 5:14.47. Ashwaubenon’s Hallory Domnick (5:04.85) and Jocelyn Zgola (5:11.47) finished ahead of Erstad.

“I really just wanted to improve from last year — getting sixth — and I’m happy with third,” Erstad said.

As a freshman last year, Erstad was sixth in the state meet and broke the school record in the process. This year she’s toppled that mark multiple times. Also a year ago, Erstad finished sixth in the backstroke, breaking 59 seconds. At this year’s state meet, she was seventh (59.79), finishing just out of another medaling spot.

“I did get a little tired, but I still felt like I did good,” Erstad said of her swims.

Coming into the state meet, Erstad wanted to have more fun than be nervous, so she tried not to think about her splits and instead spent her last week of training laughing and having fun with her teammates at practice.

“We always have fun during taper — we laugh, we play Christmas music. We do work on our fundamentals, turns and stroke, but we also make sure to have fun with it,” Erstad said. “We’re just all energetic. I still have two more years to improve and get better.”

Hammer was much of the same. In the week leading into the state meet, Hammer, a two-time state champion, wanted to have fun more than anything.

“This group of girls is the best state team ever. It’s always a party with them. We’re always dancing and having fun, saying silly crap behind the blocks — whatever,” said Hammer.

Last year Hammer was the state champion in the 200-yard individual medley. This year she took fifth with a time of 2:11.61, more than three seconds behind her state championship pace from a year ago. Edgewood’s Anna teDuits won the race (2:06.28), with Whitewater’s Ella Houwers (2:06.99) second.

“It was incredible. That was my entire goal tonight — to just get top-6. Just to be up there for the third straight year, it’s such an honor,” Hammer said. “I was all focused on having fun and trying to disassociate the end result from everything. I just wanted to go in, give it my all and have no expectations. I knew that if I gave it my all, I’d be happy with myself — and that’s exactly what happened. I was really, really happy and proud of what I did tonight.”

Hammer and Erstad joined teammates Karley Michels and Francesca Schiro in the 200-yard medley relay to open the meet. The quartet took eighth overall (1:51.60), seven seconds behind Edgewood’s state-record setting time of 1:44.51.

“I thought we did super good. We all improved from what we were placed, and that’s really the main goal,” Erstad said.

In the last event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Monroe-New Glarus finished ninth (3:41.85). The drama of the race wasn’t that the Cheesemakers vaulted from the 15th-seeded time to ninth, but of the overall effort given by its four racers — Hammer, Schiro, Erstad and junior Kendra Wenger.

“Before the 400-free we were dancing. We played ‘Just Dance’ the other night, and when the song ‘Umbrella’ came on, we were doing the exact dance from ‘Just Dance,’” Hammer said, showing that the party never left the MNG swim caps.

Schiro’s starting split of 54.16 seconds was the fourth-fastest time in either heat from the first position. Hammer followed, and the two embraced in a hug and smiles off the block, as their season has just ended. 

But it was Wenger’s swim that showed the state just how tight-knit the team is. Wenger, swimming in her lone race of the night, used up nearly every last ounce of energy in her 100-yards in the water. She struggled to get out of the pool — needing Hammer and Schiro to climb down and lift her out just seconds before Erstad, swimming anchor, came back around for 50-yard turn.

“She literally just kicked and worked her body as hard as she possibly could, and her body almost gave out. It was a scary moment of course, not having Kendra the best health-wise, but it’s just another moment of pride for us to see the team bond,” Kalvin said. “The first thing she asked when I walked over was ‘What was my time?’ I told her ‘do not worry about that right now, just take some deep breaths.’”

Wenger laid on the tiled floor next to the block while the on-site University of Wisconsin trainer attended to her, bringing an inhaler. Erstad joined Hammer and Schiro alongside Wenger as soon as she got out of the pool, with Kalvin and Root following moments later. 

“They showed us that they really were a family, sisters,” Monroe-New Glarus assistant coach Rachel Root said.

Edgewood won the team title, amassing 290 points. McFarland was second (163.5) with Ashwaubenon third (141.5). Monroe-New Glarus was 13th (82), just five points away from a Top 10 finish.

“I’m so proud of them. I know that we improved today — not just times, but our attitudes,” Hammer said, adding that her and her teammates have grown not just as swimmers, but as teammates and people since the beginning of the season with Kalvin and Root as first-year coaches. “Even from me, I was complaining, but as it went on, we knew that, ‘Hey, we got this. We’ve done this before.’ Even with the super-hard sets, we knew we had it in the bag. More towards lifting each other up as the season went on, it’s just at an all-time high.”

Root said she has known many of the swimmers ever since they first joined the Green County Golden Gators swim team nearly a decade ago.

“It was fun to watch them grow. I have known them since they were like, 8,” Root said. “All of their hard work paid off. It is very exciting and I’m very proud of them.”