NCMP dominant in first swim of season

NCMP head swimming coach Sarah Patterson got a look at her squad in competition for the first time this fall in the Newton YMCA pool on Thursday night.

And there wasn't much to dislike as the Aquagirls dominated against Grinnell and Williamsburg in the season opener.

Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella-PCM went 1-2 in six events, claimed victory in four other events and cruised to a pair of wins. NCMP defeated Grinnell 81-13 and took down Williamsburg 74-20.

Grinnell defeated Williamsburg 50-44.

"It was a really good first meet," said Patterson, who is beginning her 28th season as NCMP head coach. "It was a nice meet to start. It's always good to get some early confidence."

The Aquagirls missed six practices early in the season due to the storm that went through Newton. Patterson has some early reservations that her team would be behind on training, but they made up for it with some extra practices as the swimmers from Newton are still not in school yet.

Patterson is no longer worried about conditioning as her team was impressive from all sides Thursday.

Junior Hannah Nedder and sophomore Lillie Ray both were part of four wins.

Nedder won two individual events and both swimmers were on the winning 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Ray won the 100 freestyle and was on all three winning relay teams.

Nedder scored a dominant win in the 100-meter butterfly as she touched the wall in 1 minute, 7.38 seconds. She won the 50 freestyle in 28.31 seconds.

"Hannah is always on her game. I am really happy with her time (in the butterfly)," Patterson said. "We have been working on getting some more power on her stroke. We are working on trying to use her hips more. She has been very coachable and receptive to change. She wants to get faster."

Ray won the 100 freestyle 1:04.15. Other individual race winners included junior Grace Benson in the 200 freestyle (2:31.95), junior Lauren Zaabel in the 200 IM (2:49.69), Natalie Boll in the 400 freestyle (5:25.69) and sophomore Maylei Ruggles in the 100 backstroke (1:16.80).

The 1-2 finishes came in the 200 freestlye, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay.

The 200 medley relay winners were Ruggles, junior Maggie Garrett, Nedder and Ray in 2:11.60.

The runner up team was Zaabel, freshman Brooke Linahon, senior Chloe Kibbee and junior Emma Curry, and they finished in 2:25.99.

"We had too many standouts to mention them all, but Emma Curry had a really good night," Patterson said. "She had two really good swims."

Benson and Boll went 1-2 in the 200 freestyle. Boll was less than 2 seconds behind Benson in 2:33.49. The two swimmers raced side by side for most of the race, but Benson pulled away in the final 25 meters to win.

Senior Arabella Eide was second behind Zaabel in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:57.85. Ruggles was second behind Nedder in the 50 freestyle with a time of 29.05. Zaabel was the runner-up behind Ray in the 100 freestyle in 1:08.03.

Boll was well ahead of the field in the 400 freestyle, but junior Dani Dalasta was second in 5:55.96.

The Aquagirls were 1-3 in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Kibbee was third in both events. She finished the 100 butterfly in 1:25.92 and 100 backstroke in 1:25.84.

NCMP also was 1-3 in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay.

The winning 200 freestyle relay team featured Nedder, Benson, Garrett and Ray and they finished in 1:58.66. The third-place foursome was Linahon, senior Hailey Trease, sophomore Skyler Gooden and senior Makenna Brooks. They hit the wall in 2:13.56.

The 400 freestyle relay winners were Zaabel, Boll, Ruggles and Ray in 4:34.18. The third place team included junior Emily Mills, freshman Jadin Brooks, Dalasta and Eide and they finished in 5:10.82.

The runner-up team from Williamsburg edged the Aquagirls by .67 seconds. Eide made a valiant effort in the final 50 meters but couldn't quite close the final gap.

The only event NCMP didn't win was the 100 breaststroke, but it was 2-3 in that one. Benson was second in 1:28.86 and Garrett finished third in 1:29.69.

"We saw so many good things. We are ahead of last year on our technique," Patterson said. "The girls have been working hard. They are just so grateful to be able to swim this year. That has put a new perspective on it."

Notes: The NCMP JV won 10 of the 11 events. Junior Emily Mills won the 200 freestyle, Garrett won the 50 freestyle, Brooks was victorious in the 50 butterfly, Eide scored a win in the 100 freestyle, Brooks took a victory in the 400 freestyle, Emily VanderMolen won the 100 backstroke and Linahon swam to a win in the 100 breaststroke. ... The JV 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays also were winners. ... NCMP next swims against Indianola and Grinnell at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3 at the Indianola YMCA.