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Burlington girls swim team practices its dance moves instead its swim moves

matt levins, the hawk eye
·4 min read

The Burlington High School girls swimming team worked on its moves all week.

Unfortunately for BHS girls swimming coach Emily Hill, the moves the Grayhounds practiced were more geared towards Saturday night Homecoming dance than the Grayhound Girls Swimming Invitational Saturday morning at the BHS pool.

While the Grayhounds' minds clearly were thinking ahead to the fancy meal and dance later in the day, they still turned in some good performances.

Burlington finished third in the seven-team field with 248 points. Keokuk was seventh with 90 points.

Davenport Central won 10 of the 11 events and won the team title with 492 points, far outdistancing runner-up Muscatine, which totaled 318 points.

With over half the season remaining and a much-needed two-week break before their next competition, Hill was happy to put Saturday in the rearview mirror and get back to work on Monday.

"Today was a little sluggish. With it being Homecoming week, we've struggled with getting kids to practice," Hill said. "I think when we do that we see some of the finer details fall to the wayside. Not our best performances. There were some good performances in there. Overall not as good as we have been trending. Hopefully as we get back to normal we can put some good work in these next two weeks before we compete again."

Not all was bad for the Grayhounds. Elli Boyer finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly in 1 minute, 10.42 seconds, while Alayna McDowell was seventh in 1:22.64.

Jordyn Boyer took fifth in the 200 freestyle, Olivia Ritter was seventh in the 200 IM.

Burlington’s Alayna McDowell starts her backstroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay during the Burlington Invitational Saturday in Burlington.
Burlington’s Alayna McDowell starts her backstroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay during the Burlington Invitational Saturday in Burlington.

Olivia Kraus was third in the 100 backstroke in 1:12.49, while Ritter was fifth. Elaine Guyton took eighth in the 100 breaststroke and Taylor Donahoe was seventh in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle.

"They were good. They weren't my best times, but they were good. They were around my personal bests. It's been a long week. I think I did pretty good for what I did. I can definitely improve on some stuff," Donahoe said. "It's very tough. It's definitely hard to make it to practice. It's definitely hard to stay focused and having the motivation to want to go to practice and put in the time and effort."

One person who was not worried about Homecoming was junior Amari Bailey. Her focus was squarely on the task at hand in her favorite sport. There was nowhere she would rather be than in a swimming pool. She is like a fish out of water.

"Swim is like my second home. I absolutely love swimming. I've been swimming for 13 1/2 years. I absolutely love it," Bailey said. "My 100 breaststroke, this was my third time swimming it in a high school meet. I dropped 10 seconds. I swam my 100 fly today. I dropped three seconds from my last meet. I felt overall I did a good job today and I'm really proud of myself."

Burlington’s Elli Boyer swims the100-yard butterfly during the Burlington Invitational Saturday in Burlington.
Burlington’s Elli Boyer swims the100-yard butterfly during the Burlington Invitational Saturday in Burlington.

Team scores

1. Davenport Central, 492; 2. Muscatine, 318; 3. Burlington, 248; 4. Ottumwa, 232; 5. Macomb, 224; 6. Clinton, 191; 7. Keokuk, 90.

200-yard medley relay — Davenport Central, 1:53.83; 6. Keokuk (Addalyn Worster, Khlyie Dodson, Annabel Benson, Kyla Muston), 2:32.84. 200-yard freestyle — Madeline Fisher (M), 2:06.59; 5. Jordyn Boyer (BHS), 2:14.47; 14. Caroline Nealey, 2:53.22; 16. Abbie Killoren (K), 3:17.73. 200-yard individual medley — 1. Isabel Heller (DC), 2:20.32; 7. Olivia Rotter (BHS), 2:44.86; 8. Dodson (K), 2:47.41; 10. Elaine Guyton (BHS), 2:52.94; Muston (K), 3:23.03. 50-yard freestyle — 1. Hannah Cousins (DC); 7. Taylor Donahoe (BHS), 30.89; 10. Taylor Moore (BHS), 32.45; 14. Hannah Wenzel (BHS), 34.89; 16. Ada Finch (K), 35.45. 100-yard butterfly — 1. Gabbie Hanson (DC), 1:04.02; 4. Elli Boyer (BHS), 1:10.42; 7. Alayna McDowell (BHS), 1:22.64; 10. Amari Bailey (BHS), 1:30.68; 11. Annabel Benson (K), 1:38.92. 100-yard freestyle — 1. Cousins (DC), 54.71; 7. Donahoe (BHS), 1:07.07; 11. Worster (K), 1:12.28; 13. Korina Sears (BHS), 1:13.71; 14. Moore (BHS), 1:14.18; 16. Finch (K), 1:20.77. 500-yard freestyle — 1. Hannah Ford (DC), 5:41.83; 9. Elle Dostalek (BHS), 6:41.76; 10. Lauren McDowell (BHS), 6:54.51. 200-yard freestyle relay — 1. Davenport Central, 1:44.26; 3. Burlington (Elli Boyer, Olivia Kraus, Ritter, Jordyn Boyer), 1:50.13; 6. Keokuk (Finch, Worster, Muston, Dodson), 2:18.26. 100-yard backstroke — 1. Hanson (DC), 1:04.82; 3. Kraus (BHS), 1:12.49; 5. Ritter (BHS), 1:16.11; 11. Worster (K), 1:29.97; 12. Fortin (BHS), 1:32.74; 13. Muston (K), 1:32.79. 100-yard breaststroke — 1. Heller (DC), 1:09.28; 8. Guyton (BHS), 1:24.76; 12. Nealey (BHS), 1:37.31; 15. Bailey (BHS), 1:44.40. 400-yard freestyle relay — 1. Davenport Central, 4:03.61; 4. Burlington (Donahoe, L.McDowell, Moore, Dostalek), 4:34.93.

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington girls swimming team