November 12, 2018 at 1:22 p.m.
Winnicki 7th in 500, 16th in butterfly at state
Winnicki 7th in 500, 16th in butterfly at state
"You need to keep swimming, keep going fast, keep your pace. We're almost done. You can do it," she said.
Winnicki pushed through the fatigue to finish seventh in the state in the 500-yard freestyle Friday night at the UW-Natatorium in Madison. She set a personal-best time of 5 minutes, 18.84 seconds in the event - finishing one spot and 2.74 seconds off the podium.
It was quite a feat, considering she had only 20 minutes to rest following a 16th-place finish in the 100 butterfly.
"I thought she did fantastic," coach Jenny Heck said. "It's not easy coming out and doing a 100 fly, coming right back in and doing another hard 500 like she did."
Winnicki added, "After my fly, I didn't feel so great. I was sore. My legs hurt, but coach (Heck) told me I just had to cool down and push through the 500, just keep my mental attitude positive. After the 500, you feel tired. I still felt sore, but it was a good swim overall."
The Hodag sophomore achieved both of her goals in the 500 - improving upon her seed time and seed position. Near the back of the pack through the first 150 yards, she began to pick up spots in the middle portion of the race and put herself in a position to contend for a podium finish.
"She swam it well. It was the longest she was able to hold her splits," Heck said. "I think that it gave her a lot of confidence for next year."
Winnicki, who said she felt smooth and fast while swimming the 500, had closed to within a second of Monroe/New Glarus freshman Morgan Erstad for fifth place in the heat, but faded slightly over the final 100 yards.
Edgewood's DeeDee Walker, seeded 10th in the event, dropped significant time and won the event from the slower of the two heats with a mark of 5:04.88. Winnicki finished sixth in the faster heat, but wound up one spot off the podium.
"It was nice seeing the six next to my name in my heat but, knowing there was a girl in the first meet who was faster than me - I kind of expected that one because I knew she would go fast - but I was still super excited," she said. "Dropping my time was a big achievement for me, going under 5:20, and just having a good time."
Winnicki, who was the 13th-fastest qualifier in the butterfly, was unable to drop time in the event. Her mark of 1:00.99 was 0.45 seconds slower than her time at sectionals and placed last in the state field.
"You can't look at places when you know these kids are going to come down and don't rest until this meet," Heck said, noting the state performance was Winnicki's second-fastest time in the event in her career. "I think we were looking at her time and her time was right there and got her prepared for the 500."
It was Winnicki's second trip to state. She tied for ninth in the 500 last year and was part of a 200 medley relay team that placed 14th. Winnicki admitted it felt different this year being the only Rhinelander swimmer on deck.
"I felt kind of lonely not having other teammates with me," she said. "It was disappointing, but some of my teammates came down on deck and were cheering for me during my 500. That was really nice."
The Hodags narrowly missed qualifying for state in the 200 medley relay. Their time at sectionals would have placed 14th at state.
"I think the team realized that they belonged here," Heck said. "(Our time at sectionals) beat two other teams in that 200 medley relay. They know they should have been here and I think they would have been faster this week. But that's how it goes and it gives the kids something to look forward to for next year."
Speaking of next year, Winnicki said she's already thinking about improving her placement at state in her junior season. She will have to work hard to accomplish that goal as runner-up Mille Lausen of Menomonie was the only senior to place ahead of her in the 500.
Heck said which individual events Winnicki focuses on next season is also up for debate.
"Does she likes swimming those two events close by or does she want to do something different? She's very versatile and has the opportunity (to qualify for state) in other events. She has some time to think about that," she said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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