The Monroe/New Glarus swim team competed against the Oregon/Belleville swim team on Tuesday, September 5th.

"It was a close meet tonight and some confusion with the final score, but Monroe/New Glarus won by one point!" exclaimed Coach Linda Moser. "There were many close races, with MNG winning six of the 11 races." The final score for Varsity was Monroe/New Glarus 85, Oregon/Belleville 84. The final score for JV was Monroe/New Glarus 43, Oregon/Belleville 65.

The winner of the 200 SC Meter Medley Relay was Oregon/Belleville with a time of 2:12.07, with their team of Carolyn Christofferson, Mattea Thomason, Ava Magee and Jenna Dobrinsky. The Monroe/New Glarus team of Mekenzie Hammer, Francesca Schiro, Grace Keith and Francesca Schiro placed second with a time of 2:16.72. Monroe/New Glarus also placed third with the team of Linnea Tabaka, Anna Newcomer, Kayleigh Nesbitt and Kendra Wenger, with a time of 2:29.83.

MNG's Madelyn Hammer won the 200 SC Meter Freestyle event, with a time of 2:14.49. Placing second was OB's Jenna Dobrinsky, with a time of 2:26.08, and OB's Halle Bush took third place with a time of 2:32.93. MNG's Grace Keith placed fourth, while teammate Linnea Tabaka placed sixth. Oregon/Belleville's Ellen Martin finished in fifth place.

MNG's Mekenzie Hammer won the 200 SC Meter IM event, with a time of 2:36.25. Placing second was teammate Francesca Schiro, with a time of 2:46.67, and Oregon/Belleville's Mattea Thomason placed third with a time of 2:48.40. OB's Victoria Helvig placed fourth, while Monroe/New Glarus swimmer Kendra Wenger placed fifth.

The top two finishers in the 50 SC Meter Freestyle were Oregon/Belleville's Carolyn Christofferson (29.17) and Ava Magee (32.44). Monroe/New Glarus swimmer Cammi Ganshert placed third with a time of 30.74, while teammates Megan Benzschawel swam to a fourth place finish with a time of 32.44 and Emily Meritt placed fifth with a time of 33.01. OB's Carlie Monroe placed sixth.

Monroe/New Glarus swimmer Mekenzie Hammer won the 100 SC Meter Backstroke event, with a time of 1:08.06. Placing second and third were Oregon/Belleville swimmers Carolyn Christofferson (1:16.43) and Caroline Rusch (1:18.95). Monroe/New Glarus swimmers Anna Newcomer and Kayleigh Nesbitt placed fourth and sixth, respectively, while Oregon/Belleville's Grace Roemer placed fifth.

Winning the 100 SC Meter Breaststroke event was Oregon/Belleville's Mattea Thomason with a time of 1:25.04. Francesca Schiro, of Monroe/New Glarus, placed second with a time of 1:32.04, and OB's Michaela Rosga placed third with a time of 1:32.28. OB's Kathleen Reif placed fourth while MNG's Kendra Wenger swam to a fifth place finish.

The winners of the 400 SC Meter Freestyle Relay was the Monroe/New Glarus team consisting of Mekenzie Hammer, Grace Keith, Cammi Ganshert and Madelyn Hammer, finishing with a time of 4:23.35. The second place winner was the OB team of Caroline Rusch, Ellen Martin, Halle Bush and Carlie Monroe while the OB team of Victoria Helvig, Grace Roemer, Faith Majors-Culp and Olivia Keast placed third.

Oregon/Belleville's Ava Magee won the 100 SC Meter Butterfly event with a time of 1:13.35. MNG's Grace Keith placed second with a time of 1:16.96 and the third place finisher was OB's Victoria Helvig with a time of 1:19.41. Placing fourth and sixth were Monroe/New Glarus swimmers Emily Merrit and Kayleigh Nesbitt, while the fourth place finisher was Oregon/Belleville swimmer Carlie Monroe.

MNG's Madelyn Hammer won the 100 SC Meter Freestyle event with a time of 1:02.03, and teammate Cammi Ganshert placed second with a time of 1:09.82. The third place finisher was Oregon/Belleville's Ellen Martin with a time of 1:11.17. Placing fourth was MNG's Megan Benzschawel, while fifth and sixth places were won by Oregon/Belleville swimmers Grace Roemer and Caroline Rusch, respectively.

Oregon/Belleville's Jenna Dobrinsky (4:54.66) and Halle Bush (5:15.40) placed first and second in the 400 SC Meter Freestyle. Monroe/New Glarus swimmers Anna Newcomer (5:23.73) and Linnea Tabaka (6:01.45) took third and fourth place.

The Monroe/New Glarus team of Madelyn Hammer, Emily Merrit, Francesca Schiro and Cammi Ganshert won the 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay event, with a time of 2:03.77. The Oregon/Belleville team of Carolyn Christofferson, Mattea Thomason, Ava Magee and Jenna Dobrinsky placed second with a time of 2:04.42. Placing third was the Monroe/New Glarus team of Kendra Wenger, Kayleigh Nesbitt, Laurel Houston and Megan Benzschawel with a time of 2:14.29.

At the Lodi Invitational on Saturday, September 9th, the Monroe/New Glarus team swam to a first place finish. This is the first time the co-op team has won an invitational.

"The Lodi Invite was specifically for smaller school teams like MNG, so it made the playing field a lot more equal in many aspects," explains Coach Moser.  "MNG only won by 19 points, with 290. Lodi-Heights was right behind them with 271 points. At the break, Lodi was ahead of MNG, but the girls stayed focused and continued to put forth 100%. The excitement when the final score was announced was something we as a team will always remember!"

Along with winning the invitational, the team posted 11 PR times and had six first place finishes.

Winning the 200 Yard Medley Relay was the team of Mekenzie Hammer, Francesca Schiro, Anna Newcomer and Cammi Ganshert, with a time of 2:02.16. Placing sixth was the team of Nina Schiro, Kendra Wenger, Emily Meritt and Megan Benzschawel with a time of 2:14.09.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Madelyn Hammer placed first with a time of 2:01.77 while teammate Kendra Wenger finished in ninth place with a time of 2:29.13.

Francesca Schiro won the 200 Yard IM event with a time of 2:30.73. Kayleigh Nesbitt posted a PR with her sixth place finish, with a time of 2:53.68.

Two Monroe/New Glarus swimmers posted PR times in the 50 Yard Freestyle event. Placing twelfth was Megan Benzschawel with a time of 29.30. Laurel Houston's PR time of 29.84 was a fourteenth place finish, while Emily Merrit placed seventeenth with a time of 30.36. Anna Lattimer's PR time of 35.48 was for a twentieth place finish.

Madelyn Hammer won the 100 Yard Butterfly, with a time of 1:03.30. Right behind her in second place was Mekenzie Hammer, with a time of 1:04.67.

Finishing in third place in the 100 Yard Freestyle was Francesca Schiro with a time of 59.65. Cammi Ganshert placed eighth with a time of 1:02.53. Megan Benzschawel finished in fourteenth place with a time of 1:05.44. Laurel Houston's sixteenth place PR time was 1:10.06. Kayleigh Nesbitt finished in eighteenth place with a time of 1:10.32 while Libby Fuller posted a time of 1:16.95 for a twenty-fifth place finish.

Linnea Tabaka placed third in the 500 Yard Freestyle, with a PR time of 6:48.13.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, the team of Megan Benzschawel, Emily Meritt, Cammi Ganshert and Madelyn Hammer placed third, with a time of 1:52.16. Placing sixth in the event was the team of Kendra Wenger, Dee Delforge, Kayleigh Nesbitt and Laurel Houston, with a time of 2:03.89.

Mekenzie Hammer won the 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:00.06. Placing third was teammate Nina Schiro, with a time of 1:06.33. Linnea Tabaka's eighth place finish was a PR for her at 1:20.28. Anna Latimer's seventeenth place finish was also a PR, with a time of 1:29.96.

In the 100 Yard Breaststroke, Kendra Wenger finished in eighth place with a time of 1:30.42, while teammate Dee Delforge placed ninth with a time of 1:32.13.

The 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Mekenzie Hammer, Francesca Schiro, Cammi Ganshert and Madelyn Hammer not only won the event, but they posted a PR time of 3:59.09 – the first time they have finished under 4 minutes in this event this season. Finishing fifth in the event was the team of Nina Schiro, Kayleigh Nesbitt, Emily Meritt and Anna Newcomer, with a time of 4:18.10.

The team's next meet will be at Stoughton on Tuesday, September 19th, and begins at 6:00 p.m.