Aquagirls stay undefeated in the pool

Sep. 2—GRINNELL — Through three meets this fall, the toughest competition for the Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella girls swim team might just be against each other.

The Aquagirls shined again on Thursday, this time winning a four-team meet at Grinnell College.

NCMP went 1-2 in both the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay and were 1-2 in four individual events. It also secured four other runner-up finishes.

All of that added up to 203 points for NCMP. Indianola was second with 155, Grinnell/BGM/Baxter finished third with 97 and Vinton-Shellsburg scored 59 in fourth.

"We have so much depth this year. I am not sure we have ever had this much depth on one team," NCMP girls swim coach Sarah Patterson said. "We may not have that top-six person in the state right now, but we are already knocking on the door of state qualifying times."

The most impressive performances might have come in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. Both resulted in 1-2 finishes.

In the 200 medley relay, the team of Alex Riney, Harper Barton, Lillie Ray and Addison Van Maanen finished first in 1 minute, 59.7 seconds. The team of Tori White, Brooke Linahon, Maylei Ruggles and Paige Benson were second in 1:59.89.

The 400 freestyle relay provided similar competition between Aquagirls. Peyton Ray, Benson, Izzy Lane and Lillie Ray won the race in 3:58.13 and Ruggles, Van Maanen, White and Riney were second in 3:58.38.

Lillie Ray rallied her foursome to the win after starting behind on the final leg. She likes chasing down opponents more than she enjoys being way out in front.

"If I don't have someone right next to me or ahead of me, it's easier for me to slack off and take my foot off the gas," Lillie Ray said. "So I enjoyed that last race and trying to catch up. I definitely gave my best effort on that one."

Patterson mixed up all three relays so that they were as even as possible. And the results proved that.

The veteran coach and her staff are still trying to figure out who will be on the varsity relays come postseason time.

"There's not a clear-cut first and second person yet," Patterson said. "I don't care what relay you are on, you are battling for a spot right now. That's more fun than just rolling over our opponents. We are trying to figure things out and they swam great."

According to Patterson, it was the first time in her 31-year tenure with the program that two medley relay teams finished in under 2 minutes, and it was the first time this early that two 400 freestyle relay teams were in faster than 4 minutes.

"I love racing. That 400 freestyle relay was a great race," White said. "We had a little bit of a lead, but I knew I needed to get a little more with Lillie anchoring on the other side. I saw Izzy catching up out of the corner of my eye and just tried to go faster. It was a fun race."

Lillie Ray is one of the most veteran swimmers on the team this fall, and she really liked what Patterson did with the relays on Thursday.

"Mixing them up was a good idea for the team. You want to beat the other teams, yes, but it also stinks if you lose to a teammate," Lillie Ray said. "They can hold that over you so I think it pushes us all to go faster and try harder.

"I know when Peyton and I are on different relays, I can't just let her win because she will never let me hear the end of it. It just gives us a little more motivation and more of an edge to want to work harder."

Lillie Ray highlighted the night overall as she was part of three wins. Riney, White and Barton all were part of two victories.

Lillie Ray and Ruggles went head-to-head in the 50 freestyle and they finished 1-2, respectively. Ray won in 26.37 and Ruggles finished in 26.47.

Lillie Ray was an individual qualifier in the 50 freestyle last year and Ruggles qualified in the 100 butterfly.

"It was really close. It was a good race. She almost got me," Lillie Ray said. "We were neck and neck the whole time."

Riney's win came in the 200 individual medley. She finished the race in 2:28.59 and Van Maanen was second in 2:30.32.

Barton won the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.08 and Linahon was the runner-up in 1:14.72.

White won a pair of individual races. She won the 100 butterfly in 1:06.75. Her other victory came in the 100 backstroke as she edged Riney at the wall.

White won the 100 backstroke in 1:04.91 and Riney was the runner-up in 1:05.67.

White and Barton are part of a strong freshmen class that continues to help build NCMP's overall depth.

"They are great teammates and they fit well into our NCMP Aquagirl puzzle," Patterson said. "They are making people around them better, too.

"It's not about who stands out for me. It's about how you stand in with everyone else. And they are making everyone else faster."

The 200 freestyle relay produced a 2-3 finish for the Aquagirls.

Barton, Van Maanen, Lane and Lillie Ray placed second in 1:47.32 and the runner-up foursome included Peyton Ray, Evelyn Munk, Benson and Linahon and they finished in 1:50.52. Indianola posted a winning time of 1:47.13.

"I think it taught us that it's OK to race ourselves," Lillie Ray said about the relay lineups. "Coach Patterson talks to us a lot about the importance of racing our teammates in practice, but you don't get the full racing aspect until you are in a meet like this."

NCMP registered three more top-three finishes. Peyton Ray was the runner-up in both the 100 (57.98) and 200 (2:07.29) freestyle races. Anna DeVries finished second in the 500 freestyle in 6:14.01.

"We are doing some little things that are showing up," Patterson said. "It's fun to watch the streamlines. My brain is on fire with the little things we are doing."

NCMP is 4-0 in duals and undefeated this season in all, but there are still things to work on at practice.

"We've been working a lot on underwater stuff. I am not very good at underwaters," Lillie Ray said. "They've never been that fast. That's a weak spot for me. So that's been a focus, and it's showing in my races."

Thursday's meet was the second event of the week for NCMP. The Aquagirls did not practice yesterday, but Patterson said every practice from now until the end of the season is important.

"We are coasting on a bit of rest to be honest. We can't get overly excited (about tonight) because I think some of our rest is showing up," Patterson said. "I sent an email out yesterday and I asked them some questions. 'How hard do I push myself in practice and am I taking care of myself outside of the pool?' It will be the difference for us as a team and for them individually battling for the varsity spots."

Notes: The NCMP JV dominated, too. It scored 211 points at the top and the rest of the field included Grinnell/BGM/Baxter (89), Indianola (44) and Vinton-Shellsburg (15). ... The NCMP JV went 1-2 in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay and also won the 200 freestyle relay. ... Estella Allen led the JV with wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. She also was part of the 200 medley relay win. ... The other individual JV winners included DeVries, Lane, Hailey Dickerson, Avery Meyer and Emily Vander Molen. DeVries, Lane, Dickerson and Vander Molen also were part of winning relay teams and Skyler Gooden was on two winning relay teams. ... There are three Baxter students on the Grinnell/BGM/Baxter squad. Camryn Russell was second in diving with 190.35 points and Grace Anderegg scored 133. Jaci McMinamen also swam on a few JV relays and competed in the JV 100 backstroke.