Westonka Swim and Dive Remains Undefeated, Wins Maroon and Gold Invite

The Mound Westonka-Holy Family swim and dive team continues to surprise its opponents this season.

On Sept. 27 the White Hawks faced the Dassel-Cokato Chargers in a dual meet at home. Leading off with a first place finish (2:01.34) was the varsity 200-yard medley relay team of freshmen Shea Braden, Clare Simon and Brie LaVelle, and senior Mackenzie Braden. The team of juniors Sari Mailey and captain Maggie Green, freshman Sally Stark and eighth-grader Ryann Beyer earned points with third-place finish.  

In the varsity 200-yard freestyle, senior captains Grace Polusny and Paige Beyer finished in 2nd and 3rd place; eighth-grader Rhiannon Mailey was fourth.

The junior varsity squad had a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-free: senior captain Libby New was first, followed by eighth-grader Kate Rogers and freshman Stephanie Begalke.  

Shea Braden (2:24.91) touched out Green (2:24.93) for a 1-2 finish in the varsity 200-yard individual medley. Freshmen Katie Uhas and Emily Staunton finished in 1st and 3rd in the junior varsity 200 IM. Simon (26.36) and LaVelle (28.00) were 1st and 2nd in the varsity 50-yard freestyle; sophomore Hannah Daly was 4th.

Senior diver Kayla Lindeman won her event with a high score of 197.85.

The White Hawks dominated the 100-yard butterfly: Mackenzie Braden (1:03.21) and Green finished the varsity event in 1st and 2nd; junior Erin Haug was 4th.  

Junior Rose Inglis, Uhas and Staunton were 1-2-3 in the junior varsity butterfly.

Also finishing 1-2-3 were varsity 100-yard freestyle swimmers Simon (57.64), Daly and Paige Beyer. Ryann Beyer finished the junior varsity 100-yard free in 1st place.  

In the 500-yard freestyle, Mackenzie Braden was 1st (5:19.51), followed by Polusny, 3rd, and Sari Mailey, 4th. The junior varsity 500 free was led by Rogers in 1st, New in 2nd and sophomore Chloe Gruman in 3rd.

The 200-yard freestyle relay was a White Hawk win: the team of Paige Beyer, LaVelle, Daly and Simon finished first; Ryann Beyer, Inglis, Polusny and New were 3rd.  

Shea Braden (1:04.44)  and Stark were 1st and 3rd in the 100-yard backstroke. LaVelle (1:14.57) and Sari Mailey went 1st and 3rd in the 100-yard breaststroke.

In the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Paige Beyer, Daly, Polusny and Mackenzie Braden finished in 2nd place, and the team of Ryann Beyer, Sari Mailey, Shea Braden and Inglis were 3rd.  

The White Hawks ended the meet on top, soundly defeating the Chargers with a final score of 120-66.

Maroon and Gold Invitational

The team traveled to the University of Minnesota for the annual Maroon and Gold Invitational on Sept. 29. In an upset, the White Hawks outscored the meet favorite, Class AA Lakeville South, by 2.5 points to win the first place trophy over nine other teams.  

"I was really impressed with the way our girls stepped up during the meet," head coach Gretchen Rouse said. "They were really focused and wanted the win. It has been an extremely exciting season and coming away from the Maroon and Gold on top was another big milestone. Lakeville South is a very strong team. It was great to see our girls accept the challenge and fight for the win."  

Meet highlights included the 200-yard medley relay team of Shea Braden, LaVelle, Green and Inglis finishing 3rd out of 33 teams, and the team of Daly, Haug, Polusny and Sari Mailey finishing in 13th place.  

In the 200-yard free, Mackenzie Braden was 1st out of 43 swimmers. Other point earners in that event were Polusny, 5th; Simon, 6th; and Sari Mailey, 11th. Green swam the 200-yard IM to a 4th place finish out of 44; Stark was 10th.  

LaVelle swam the 50-yard free to finish in 5th of 47; Daly was 13th and Ryann Beyer was 16th. Lindeman placed 2nd out of 26 in the diving event. Shea Braden placed 2nd of 43 in the 100-yard fly; Green placed 8th, and Haug was 13th.  

Simon, Daly and Ryann Beyer earned points in the 100-yard free, placing 3rd, 11th and 16th out of 43 swimmers. Mackenzie Braden won the 500-yard free; Sari and Rhiannon Mailey placed 6th and 7th out of 47. Daly, LaVelle, Simon and Mackenzie Braden won the 200-yard free relay, finishing 1st out of 37 teams; Ryann Beyer, Uhas, New and Sari Mailey earned points with a 9th place finish.

Shea Braden and Stark were 4th and 7th of 41 in the 100-yard backstroke; LaVelle finished the 100-yard breaststroke in 2nd place of 45.

The final event, the 400-yard free relay, had Green, Simon and the Braden sisters in 2nd place, and Ryann Beyer, Stark, New and Rhiannon Mailey in 8th place out of 36 teams.  

The final score had the White Hawks on top with 410.5 points, over Lakeville South's 408. Dassel-Cokato was 3rd with 274 points.  

The MWHF White Hawks marked their third consecutive 1st place invitational finish, and they remain undefeated in dual meets for the season.