White’s victory headlines big day in the pool for Newton girls swim team

MARSHALLTOWN — The look on Tori White’s face said it all. She was incredibly surprised to see a No. 1 by her name after the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday.

White was super happy with her time but the emotions turned to elation when she also punched an automatic ticket to this week’s state swimming and diving meet.

“I saw my time and was happy about that,” White said. “Then I looked again and saw a 1 next to my name. Then it was oh my gosh. It was amazing.”

The Cardinals walked out of the Marshalltown YMCA after the regional meet knowing they were guaranteed five state entries but added four more to their schedule when the official list was released a few hours later.

In the end, No. 14 Newton placed fifth in the eight-team field with 254 points. That was 12 in front of No. 26 Southeast Polk (234) and well ahead of No. 33 Burlington (177) and No. 49 Tipton (55).

“I think we really surprised ourselves. The team was really good today,” senior Harper Barton said. “We all dropped a lot of time.

“I’m excited for state because we are only half way tapered. This week we’ll be fully rested, and we can drop even more.”

No. 9 Waukee (399) edged No. 10 Iowa City West (390) for the regional championship. No. 23 Marshalltown (267) snuck past No. 7 Iowa City High (266) for third to complete the field.

White was the only individual to grab an automatic state berth, but the Cardinals also won the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

The winner of each event at the regional meet clinches an automatic bid into next week’s state meet, which will be held in Iowa City for the first time in several seasons.

White was part of both winning relays. The four-time state qualifier brought home three punched tickets for the first time in her career, and she will be joined in an individual event at the state meet by Barton, freshman Reid McCloud and junior Temple Barton.

Harper Barton, who also is a four-time state qualifier, came into the day not having to worry about her placing because she had already hit the state’s standard qualifying time in both of her individual events.

She placed second in both the 50 and 100 freestyle despite posting career-best times in both events.

“Harper didn’t have to worry about qualifying today so the big goal was place and time,” Newton head swimming coach Kaylee Franke said. “She isn’t fully tapered either and that was a risk, but it worked out well for her even though it didn’t work out like we thought it would.”

White won the 100 backstroke to clinch the automatic state berth. She posted a career-best time of 1 minute, 1.07 seconds and was one of three swimmers who went under 1:02.

Her time also set a new school record. The previous mark of 1:01.16 was set by Lakin Jenkins in 2018. White posted her previous best time during her sophomore season.

“I think my best moment as a coach this year was standing at the blocks and seeing her face when she realized it,” Franke said about White’s win. “She’s been training on a really tough interval program. Hard intervals going into this with a really short taper. Whenever you put in a short taper going into districts to save it for state that’s a risk you are taking. It was the right risk for Tori, but she also has a lot of heart. She’s a kid who swims with as much heart as skill and she wanted it.”

White said she was in a great spot right before the start of the race. But eventually got to the right head space.

“My hands were shaking,” White said. “I was looking up at Harper in the stands and was hoping she would give me head nod. But I got it together, took a few breaths and just did what I knew I was capable of. I’ve swam this a million times. It was time to just swim. I knew I would do well, but I didn’t expect to win.”

The other wins for Newton came in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The same foursome swam on both teams.

White, Temple Barton, McCloud and Harper Barton won the 200 freestyle relay in a season-best 1:41.48. That’s the ninth-best qualifying time in the state.

McCloud, Temple Barton, White and Harper Barton teamed up in the 400 freestyle relay and won that race in a season-best 3:41.46. It was the seventh-fastest qualifying time and bettered second place at regionals by more than 3 seconds.

McCloud said part of her big day was made possible due to better streamlines in the pool.

“I felt good with those relays,” McCloud said. “My streamlines were a lot better than normal and those fast strokes helped. I also just knew that my relay teammates were counting on me to go fast.”

White felt like she let her team down during a meet in Grinnell earlier this season. She was motivated to not let that happen again on Saturday.

“We were close in seed times so I knew we had a chance to get them,” White said. “I’m just glad I kept the lead because I faded too much at Grinnell. I didn’t want to leave it up to Harper so I tried my best to go as fast as I could. The training paid off. We’ve all been working so hard.”

Harper Barton’s second-place time in the 50 freestyle was a career best 24.46. She trailed Iowa City West’s Nora Landon by .07 seconds.

She was second in the 100 freestyle with a career-best time of 53.65, too. That was .04 seconds behind Waukee’s Tori Kettles.

Harper Barton had to choose between which two individual races she would compete in. The winning time in the 100 breaststroke was a time Barton could have beaten, but she’s not second-guessing the decision.

“Those are my fastest times ever. That was a plus, but I did really want to win,” Harper Barton said. “I trained a lot of freestyle and I’m dialed in on those. Once I’m fully tapered, I think it will be worth the decision to swim both of those.”

Temple Barton will join her older sister in the 100 freestyle at state even though she herself wasn’t sure it was fast enough to get in.

The younger Barton placed ninth in the event, but her career-best time of 56.96 was good enough to sneak in to the 32-person field.

“I dropped time in both of them, but I don’t think it will be good enough to get in,” Temple Barton said. “I’m excited to be going in the relays, too. I love swimming with my sister. It’s amazing. I look up to her so much.”

McCloud’s two state qualifying individual events are the 200 and 500 freestyle.

The freshman from Pella placed second in both events. Her time in the 500 freestyle was clocked in a career-best 5:13.16, which was a 12-second time drop and under the state’s standard qualifying time.

It also sets a new school record. The previous mark of 5:15.21 was set by Ellen Collville back in 2009.

“I’m really happy with that school record,” McCloud said. “I actually remember telling you at the beginning of the season that I was going to get the record at some point.

“We did some good tapering and that helped a lot. I’ve been working hard for this all season.”

McCloud’s runner-up time in the 200 freestyle was clocked in a career-best 1:57.75. She trailed Kettles of Waukee by only .64 seconds. Temple Barton placed eighth in 2:04.06.

“(McCloud) is already swimming with the big dogs,” Franke said. “When we get her breath pattern the way it needs to be, she will dominate that 500 the rest of the her career. I don’t have any doubts. That’s the true one thing we need to tweak.”

White’s other individual event was the 200 individual medley. She placed sixth in that one with a career-best 2:21.9, which was 1 second back of a state berth.

Julia Nedder dropped a bunch of time in the 100 butterfly. She posted a career-best 1:04.04 in the event and placed eighth. The final state qualifying time was 1:03.19.

Nedder will compete in her first state meet though after helping Newton qualify in the 200 medley relay.

The foursome of Emalee Weuve, Alexa Van Maanen, Nedder and Kimberlee Miller placed sixth in 2:00.03 but was fast enough to claim one of the final state qualifying spots.

“I am not considering them out of the running until results come out in about two hours,” Franke said after the meet. “Either way, that’s a relay to be proud of. They cut 5 seconds off their best time. There was not a leg that didn’t have a time drop. When those four girls realized they were on the cusp and close, they pushed even harder for it.”

Franke and assistant coach Kara Groenenboom decided on the relay foursome for the three relays pretty early in the season. The 200 and 400 freestyle relays have been set for a while now.

“At the beginning of the season, those four girls sat down together and came to me and said this group was the best relay lineup,” Franke said about the freestyle relay teams. “They wanted us to let them run it. I think that’s what led to our success in all three relays. We decided early who was going to be on it and stuck with it.”

Notes: Harper Barton has a specific quote she tells White before every relay race. “What I tell Tori before every relay is, ‘if there’s someone in the lead by the time I dive in, they won’t be by the time I get to the wall.’” … It was the final prep swim for senior Brilea Moffitt. But her time with the team is not done yet. “As a senior, we are taking her as team manager because we’re not ready for her time with us to be over yet,” Franke said. “She ended her career well today and I was impressed with how she carried herself throughout the entire meet.” … Franke highlighted Nedder as another swimmer to watch in the future. “She had significant time drops in everything she swam today,” Franke said. “Her drive is fantastic. She has trained so hard the past few weeks. She’s not one I would overlook in the future.” … The state swimming and diving meet moves to the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in 2025. The preliminary heats for the individual swimming races begin at noon on Thursday in Iowa City. The state diving meet starts at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and the swimming finals, including the relays, are scheduled to start at noon on Friday.