Seven wins power Aquagirls past Boone, Grinnell

BOONE — The Aquagirls registered seven wins and were 1-2 in five events during another dominating night in the pool on Tuesday.

The Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella girls’ swim team improved to 12-1 on the season with a pair of road wins. NCMP downed host Boone 76-34 and dunked Grinnell/BGM/Baxter 67-28.

“We had a ton of great swims tonight,” NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said. “Both of our 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays swam season-best times. I’m super excited for what comes next.”

What comes next for the Aquagirls are the two conference meets and then the postseason.

Before that, NCMP had one final tuneup. Lillie Ray led the way with four wins, Harper Barton was part of three victories and Peyton Ray, Tori White and Maylei Ruggles all had two wins.

The Aquagirls started the night with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay and ended it with a 1-3 tally in the 400 freestyle relay.

In the 200 medley relay, the team of White, Barton, Ruggles and Lillie Ray won the race in 1 minute, 58.26 seconds. Alex Riney, Estella Allen, Izzy Lane and Peyton Ray finished second in 2:04.68.

Peyton Ray opened the 400 freestyle relay and was joined by Addison Van Maanen, Riney and Lillie Ray and they won with a season-best time of 3:50.75.

Finishing third in 4:01.19 was the team of Ruggles, Lane, Evelyn Munk and White.

Lillie Ray anchored all three relays. Joining her for the 200 freestyle relay win were Barton, Peyton Ray and Paige Benson and they finished in a season-best 1:45.17.

The elder Ray also won the 100 freestyle. She finished the race in a season-best 55.53 seconds and Riney was second in a personal-best 57.57.

“Lillie Ray was absolutely on fire tonight,” Patterson said. “Alex Riney had an incredible meet. She works really hard and is putting the pieces together at the right time.”

The Aquagirls also were 1-2 in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

In the 50 freestyle, Ruggles and Barton had an incredibly close finish with Ruggles winning in 26.61 and Barton finishing second in 26.69.

“Maylei Ruggles had a fabulous 50 freestyle,” Patterson said. “She always comes on strong at the end of the season.”

White and Van Maanen were 1-2 in the 100 backstroke. White won the race in 1:05.11 and Van Maanen was next in 1:08.01.

Barton won the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.01 and Allen finished second in 1:19.63.

“Tori White and Harper Barton continue to dominate in the 100 back and the 100 breast and pick up huge points for us at the end of the meet,” Patterson said. “I’m so excited to watch them as we head into the championship phase of our season.”

In the 200 individual medley, Peyton Ray and Riney finished 2-3. Ray was second in a personal-best time of 2:24.91 and Riney came in as the runner-up in 2:27.76.

NCMP was top-three in three other events. Munk (2:13.7) finished second in the 200 freestyle, Ruggles (1:05.96) came in third in the 100 butterfly and Anna DeVries (6:14.04) was third in the 500 freestyle.

Notes: NCMP’s junior varsity finished 1-2 in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays and also won the 200 freestyle relay. Individual wins were collected by Emily VanderMolen, Avery Meyer, Hailey Dickerson, Briana Shannon, Jacy Linahon, Benson, DeVries and Lane. VanderMolen was part of three wins, while Meyer, Dickerson and Shannon each won twice. … In 1-meter diving, Baxter’s Camryn Russell finished second with 255.05 points. She is a freshman on the Grinnell/BGM/Baxter swim team.