BARABOO — The Cheesemakers had a mixed day at the WIAA Division 2 Baraboo Sectional Nov. 9. Every Monroe-New Glarus co-op swimmer had their best times of the year, and the team will be represented in five races at the Nov. 15 state meet.

And yet, there were a couple of races the Cheesemakers would like to have a re-do on.

“I felt really good during warmups, but in my races, I felt rushed in my stroke a little bit. That was kind of disappointing. I felt like I was riding kind of high in the water, as if I felt better than I performed,” said Monroe-New Glarus junior Mekenzie Hammer, who qualified for state in one individual race and two relays.

Highlighting the meet for MNG was sophomore Morgan Erstad, who won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 14.01 seconds.

“I’m actually really excited,” Erstad said. “When I first went in for warmups I got super pumped and ready to go. I think from last year I made a lot of progress.”

Only the sectional champion is guaranteed to reach the state meet. The next top-12 times from around the four sectionals also move on, which meant the MNG swimmers left the Baraboo pool with a cloud of uncertainty.

“I’m sure it’s really good for her to know that she is in and doesn’t have to worry about it,” first-year head coach Kendra Kalvin said. “She deserves it after a really, really awesome swim. We kept expecting her splits to scoot up and scoot up, but it didn’t — her splits stayed the same throughout the whole thing. She really deserved that win.”

Erstad will be swimming in four races on Friday. She qualified individually for the 100-backstroke and is a member of the 200-medley relay and the 400-medley relay teams that also qualified.

“I tried to take away making it more fun — last year I was just so nervous,” Erstad said of the day at sectionals. “It’s exciting. We have new coaches and it’s been so fun to work with them this year, so I’m really excited for another week.”

Hammer won the 100-backstroke as a freshman two seasons ago and finished third last year as a sophomore. This year, she decided to make a change and seek a title in another race.

“Last year’s top finishers for the fly were all seniors and left. So, it was kind of an open book. But I think a lot of people had the same thought that I did and tried to go into that race and take it,” Hammer said. “I wanted to try something new. My backstroke, we’ve been working on pulling a little bit more — I use too much of my legs and not enough of my arms. So, fixing my stroke has made it a little slower because I’m adjusting. I’m hoping to be back next year.”

Hammer was 11th in the butterfly (1:01.26) — 27/100ths of a second away from qualifying for state. 

“I felt it was a little rushed,” said Hammer, who was visibly upset with her time. “I was expecting to get close to my club time of 56, 57. Seeing that I wasn’t there was kind of disappointing.”

Hammer also qualified in the 200-individual medley to defend her state championship from a year ago. If she can pull off a third individual state title this year, she would be the first 3-time state champion in program history. After last year’s title, she and 2006 graduate Ellie Radke are tied for two.

The 200-medley relay team for MNG will consist of Hammer and Erstad, with Karley Michels and Francesca Schiro anchoring. The quartet was fifth (1:52.64) at the sectional, which was won by Edgewood (1:48.27). 

In the 400-free relay, Schiro and Alyssa Roelli joined Hammer and Erstad and finished eighth (3:45.45) in the sectional. Edgewood (3:34.49) took the top spot. MNG’s time was the second highest to qualify for state, tied with Rice Lake and ahead of only Whitnall.

Hammer was fifth at the sectional in the IM (2:14.39), more than a full second behind Edgewood’s Anna teDuits (2:13.11). MNG junior Anna Newcomer was 12th (2:22.11) and sophomore teammate Taylor Rufer was 17th (2:36.46).

“I just tried to stay up with those girls — we were all up in that race. I felt like I took it faster than I should have, because my legs were kind of gone during the breaststroke leg of the race. Next time I do it I’ll try to take my legs out a little less so that I have more kick for the breaststroke and free,” Hammer said.

Sophomores Roelli (15th, 1:03.40) and Samantha Schiro (22nd, 1:07.35) also raced in the butterfly. Roelli finished 12th (2:06.16) in the 200-free.

Junior Kendra Wenger was 18th in the 50-free (26.31) and 17th in the 100-free (57.83). Francesca Schiro was ninth in the 100-free (55.67), missing out on a trip to state by just over a full second.

“I missed the wall coming back on the last 50,” said Francesca Schiro, who fought back tears after the event. “But (I had to) turn around, get back up on my feet and swim the best that I could. I get super nervous for this meet. The competition is really hard — there are super-fast girls that swim all year-round. I used to swim all year-round, but I don’t anymore because it’s a lot of work. There are some really fast girls here and I’m just trying my best.”

Sophomores Kaitlyn Elgin (17th, 5:34.42) and Elsa Schaefer (26th, 6:17.75) also raced in the 500-free. Elgin was 16th in the backstroke (1:05.65).

In the 100-breaststroke, Michels was eighth (1:11.11), just 35/100ths out of a spot in the state meet. Newcomer (1:12.07) was 12th in the race, while sophomore Peyton Yaun (1:12.58) was 14th for MNG.

The Cheesemakers’ 200-freestyle relay team was eighth (1:44.82), more than two and a half seconds out of a shot at the state meet.

Edgewood dominated the sectional, winning the team title with 353 points, well ahead of McFarland (297), DeForest (238) and Baraboo (200). Monroe was eighth (167) in the 13-team meet. Edgewood won eight of the 12 events, with only Erstad, McFarland’s Mara Freeman (100-backstroke), and Baraboo’s Ella Lohr (100-breaststroke) keeping the Crusaders out of first place. Edgewood didn’t enter a swimmer in the 100-breaststroke and swam without one of its top racers (DeeDee Walker).

“It was just cool to see. We saw growth in the pool — everyone dropped time in their events. But it’s just cool to see them become closer as friends and support each other,” Kalvin said of her team.

The MNG co-op graduates just four seniors from this year’s team, none of which swam in the sectional. 

“I think it’s really exciting. The girls work so well together and I’m happy that they’ll get another year or two years working all together,” Kalvin said.

Also returning for the program will be Kalvin and assistant coach Rachel Root, a Monroe alumnus. The pair took over the program before the season from longtime coach Linda Moser. Some of the MNG swimmers found immediate comfort in the new regime.

 “I feel like this season I’ve had more fun than in past seasons,” Hammer said. “They definitely have been really pushing us — I feel like I’ve worked a lot harder than I ever have. I feel like I have a lot to take away from this season.”