Shawano girls swim team expecting strong year behind experienced core

The Shawano Community High School girls swim team is excited to get the season underway, doing so with several experienced swimmers back on the roster and a handful of new athletes hoping to make a difference.

The team, which is coached by Gina Monfils, will be led by the experienced senior quartet of Isabel Colon, Macy Monfils, Lydia Quandt and Grace Huntington, who were all regulars in the team’s lineup last year.

Colon was often the team’s top-finishing individual a season ago, and was named the team’s MVP as a result. She came in sixth in the 100-yard freestyle at the seven-team Bay Conference Meet, where Shawano took fifth as a team.

Allison Langlois, Gabi Bukoski, Anne Carrier and Faith Ugoretz headline a list of juniors that were also a big part of the team’s 2019 success.

Bukoski came in sixth in the 500 freestyle at the conference meet, while Carrier was eighth in the 100 butterfly.

Langlois, Bukoski, Colon and Monfils formed the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams at the conference meet a year ago.

Allison Brown is also back with plenty of varsity experience, despite being only a sophomore.

Senior Rose Bunker, juniors Carly Steffel and Ananya Wilson and sophomore Autumn Bunker are among the list of swimmers that will try and replace some of the talent the team graduated.

“We have excellent starters returning that have the skill and desire to allow us to finish strong,” said coach Monfils. “Moreover, I believe the structural changes to our practices resulting from safety measures put in place due to COVID-19 will help focus us as a team to be more mindful and purposeful in utilizing each and every practice session to maximize our fullest potential as swimmers.”

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