March 29, 2024

NCMP cruises past Grinnell, Williamsburg in season opener

Aquagirls win every event but one in road sweep

GRINNELL — The Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella Aquagirls won all three relays and placed first in each individual race except one during a season-opening sweep of Grinnell and Williamsburg on Thursday.

NCMP doubled up in eight individual events. That led to a 108.5-53.5 win over Williamsburg and a 112-60 victory over Grinnell.

“We had a really good first meet,” NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said. “We need to fine tune the little things and keep pushing endurance and end-of-race stamina.”

The Aquagirls went 1-2 in the 400-yard freestyle relay and 1-3 in the 200 freestyle relay. They also placed first and second in the 200 IM, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

In the 200 freestyle relay, NCMP won with Alexa Heiar, Peyton Ray, Maggie Garrett and Lauren Zaabel in 1 minute, 49.33 seconds.

The winning team in the 400 freestyle relay included Zaabel, Maylei Ruggles, Alex Riney and Hannah Nedder. They won the race in 3:57.9.

The team of Ray, Paige Benson, Brooke Linahon and Lillie Ray were second in the event in 4:06.66.

Emma Curry, Heiar, Nedder and Lillie Ray won the 200 medley relay in 1:59.15. Riney, Garrett, Avery Meyer and Linahon placed second in 2:07.23.

Nedder also won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.98. The state qualifying standard time is 59.53 seconds. Finishing third in the event was Meyer in 1:10.71.

“Hannah looked strong in her first 100 fly outing and she anchored our 400 freestyle relay in a blistering 56.02 seconds,” Patterson said.

Ruggles won multiple events. She was victorious in the 100 freestyle in 57.86 and also won the 100 backstroke in 1:07.43.

Benson (1:01.95) was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle and Riney (1:10.79) took second in the 100 backstroke.

Zaabel and Lillie Ray went 1-2 in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:32.54 and 2:33.51, respectively.

Heiar and Garrett were 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.87 and 1:23.33, respectively. Heiar is back on the team this season after a two-year hiatus.

In the 500 freestyle, Anna DeVries and Grace Benson finished first and second. DeVries won her first-ever varsity race in 6:25.5, while Grace Benson was the runner-up in 6:40.94.

Peyton Ray also won her first varsity race as she won the 200 freestyle in 2:10.48. Grace Benson was third in 2:23.26.

In the 50 freestyle, Linahon was second in 28.18 and Curry finished third in 28.3.

“I can’t wait to see top-ranked Waukee on Tuesday to go up against some really strong competition,” Patterson said. “We also have our first home meet Thursday against Grinnell and Indianola.”