NCMP rolls past Williamsburg, Tipton in season opener – Newton Daily News

The biggest competition for the Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella girls swim team on Thursday came from Aquagirl teammates.

The NCMP had no problems with Tipton or Williamsburg. But if he learned one thing in the season opener, it’s that there is plenty of depth and who swims what at the varsity level is still pretty unknown.

“I didn’t expect to see so many close races. But I’m happy about it,” NCMP head swimming coach Nick Shelton said. “We’ve seen a lot of competition within the team, which helps us push each other. That’s the best part of the night.”

The Aquagirls finished 1-2 in all but one event on the varsity level, and Harper Barton and Tori White were each part of four wins as NCMP defeated Tipton 116-32 and blanked Williamsburg 115 -48. Williamsburg posted a 103-46 win over Tipton in their matchup.

The large senior class began its final season in the pool with a trio of wins from Peyton Ray, Alex Riney and Addison Van Maanen. Paige Benson was also part of two relay wins.

“It feels weird. It felt like a normal meeting, but the seniors lead the cheers before the meeting. Now we’re up there,” Ray said of being a senior.

The Aquagirls had top two times in every event except the 200-meter individual medley. And one of their junior relay teams swam faster than an all-senior foursome.

NCMP began the evening with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay. The winning team of Riney, Van Maanen, White and Benson finished in 2 minutes, 11.49 seconds. The runner-up team of Hailey Dickerson, Anna DeVries, Izzy Lane and Avery Meyer stopped the clock in 2:24.08.

The JV 200 medley relay team of Emalee Weuve, Temple Barton, Julia Nedder and Alexa Van Maanen finished in 2:22.88.

Ray, Riney, Benson and Harper Barton won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:55.76, and Lane, Dickerson, DeVries and Meyer were second in 2:09.87. The top JV team of Temple Barton, Nedder, Alexa Van Maanen and Peyton Phillips had the third best overall time of 2:10.35.

Ray said the time of 1:55.76 in winning the quad was just 2 seconds off the school record time.

“That’s what we want,” Shelton said. “That friendly competition between them. It will be a good season. I think we’re going to have a big year.”

The 400 freestyle relay team of Ray, White, Addison Van Maanen and Harper Barton won in 4:19.34, and Lane, Dickerson, Meyer and DeVries were second in 4:48.59.

Harper Barton also won the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, while Albul picked up victories in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

“Our starts, our turns and our relays can get better,” Shelton said. “We can still improve the little things. We can clean this stuff up. I think wall breathing can be improved too. Essentially, we’re still there.”

Harper Barton won the 200 free in 2:16.71 and Ray was second in 2:17.47.

Barton’s winning time in the 100 breaststroke was 1:18.12, and Addison Van Maanen was second in 1:21.08.

White won the 100 fly in 1:15.13 and Lane was next in 1:16.60. White’s winning time in the 100 backstroke was clocked in 1:12.6, and Dickerson was second in 1:20.83.

“I was good with my fly because I didn’t train too much for it,” White said. “The most I did with it was three 50s and that was it (Wednesday). The rear was not good in my opinion. Not sure what happened to that one. It felt fast. I thought it might be a record time. It certainly wasn’t that.

“It’s a good base to start with. I have two more dates to break it. I need to work on leg turns and streamlining more. My third and final turn could be much better. That will cut the time.”

Ray’s individual victory came in the 100 free. She won the race in 1:02.03 and Riney was second in 1:06.29.

“I think that was my fastest time ever outside of districts,” Ray said. “Or at least close. I’ve been doing a lot of hard training and my turns have improved so that’s helped quite a bit.”

Riney won the 50 free in 29.72 seconds and Benson was second in 32.35.

Weuve swam to a victory in the 400 freestyle. She was the winner in 5:32.34, which edged out Meyer (5:32.49) at the wall.

Addison Van Maanen earned an individual victory in the 200 IM. She hit the wall in 2:41.62 and Benson was third overall and second against Tipton in 2:51.34.

“It’s a big group that feeds off each other and holds each other accountable really well,” Shelton said of the large senior class. “That helps the rest of the team to account.

“Last year wasn’t bad, but there is more leadership because of the large number of seniors. That can only help us.”

Notes: NCMP JV defeated Williamsburg 96-41 and downed Tipton 96-12. Phillips won both the 100 and 200 freestyle, while other individual wins came from Kimberlee Miller (200 IM), Alexa Van Maanen (50 freestyle), Nedder (100 fly), Weuve (100 back ), Haylee White (400 freestyle) and Temple Barton (100 breast), who edged DeVries by 0.04 seconds. Weuve, Nedder, Alexa Van Maanen and Temple Barton also won the JV 400 free relay.