March 28, 2024

NCMP captures third straight NCIC swim title

Threepeat

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NCMP’s Aquagirls found cool runnings in their home pool Saturday, hosting the 2014 North Central Iowa Conference swim meet. They piled up 470 points to snag their third consecutive NCIC championship and knocked down four school records on the way.

Decorah was a distant second with 293 points followed by Boone with 248 points. Grinnell finished fourth with 176 points followed by Vinton-Shellsburg at 97, Williamsburg 59 and Charles City 42.

Senior Rachel Prendergast was named a NCIC scholar athlete. NCMP’s coaches Sarah Patterson, Chris Forsyth and Austin Bunker were named NCIC co-coaching staffs of the year tied with Decorah’s coaching staff.

Newton’s YMCA pool room was roaring all afternoon. The top three finishers in each race received medals and the top six received awards on the conference podium. Team points were awarded for placing in the top 16.

The conference championship run for NCMP starting Saturday morning at Grinnell College with the diving event. In their two previous championships did not include diving points, but the Aquagirls got a big boost from freshman Morgan Eide off the diving board.

In the 11-dive event, Eide came in fourth with 396.85 points. NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said Eide was five points away from the NCMP school record in diving.

“We haven’t had the diving points the previous two years and it was great to have a solid start to the conference meet with Morgann’s performance,” Patterson said. “She’s a freshman and really hasn’t had that much board time this year. We’re fortunate to have Kelly Rose of Grinnell as our dive coach this season.”

In the pool Saturday afternoon, the Aquagirls won eight of 10 events. They had five individual champions and sweeping the three relays with 1-2 finishes.

NCMP opened the swimming with its third straight win in the 200 freestyle relay in conference action. Juniors Sydney Jenkins and Hannah Rhoads combined with senior Hannah Scotton and junior Samantha Hedrick to shave off two seconds from the NCMP school record time in the event. The foursome posted a time of 2 minutes, 6.82 seconds. The old record was 2:08.42 set by Sydney Griffith, Ellen Colville, Scotton and Carly Colville in 2011.

“Going after the relay records was a goal for us at conference,” said Hedrick, who anchored the 200 medley, the 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relays to school records and lowered her own 100-meter freestyle school time. “We just push each other to go out strong and stay strong. I was confident in the team to go after the times we wanted.”

NCMP’s B relay team of senior Kira Hanson, junior Sierra Griffith, senior Sara Martin and  freshman Alexis Stout took the second-place medal in the 200-meter freestyle relay race.

That set the tone for the meet.

Freshman Madeline Webb led a 1-2-4 the 200 freestyle race, out touching teammate Rachel Prendergast, 2:22.10 and 2:22.39, respectively. Junior Elizabeth Myers was fourth.

“It’s something I’ve wanted and it was super cool to win a conference title as a freshman,” Webb said. “It was awesome today with the excitement and energy in the room and be on conference championship my first year in high school.”

Rhoads won the 200 individual medley relay race in 2:36.66. Toward the end of the meet, Rhoads was involved in a big race for NCMP — the 100 breaststroke.

Patterson said the three NCMP breaststroke swimmers wanted to go 1-2-3 again. She said she honestly didn’t know who was going to win it, since each one has beaten the others in races this season.

Martin, Rhoads and Griffith had swept the 100 breaststroke conference medals a year ago. The trio — nicknamed BT3 by the team — didn’t disappoint the home fans. It was a finger-tip finish led by Martin in 1:22.03 then Rhoads at 1:22.41 and Griffith at 1:22.57.

“It was so exciting and I’m happy we could sweep the race again together,” Martin said. “The whole meet was amazing for our team. Our goal in the relays was to get first and go after the records and we did that.”

Rhoads said BT3 push each other with friendly competition in practices and in meets. She said the three are happy for the others and it didn’t matter who won.

“Today’s meet just shows how much work we’ve put in as a team,” Rhoads said “The IM is a tough race and I’m fortunate to have the support of my teammates. I just go out strong and finish strong. It’s about swimming your own race.”

Scotton pushed herself to have a strong race in the 100 butterfly event. She did, winning in 1:06.62 with Martin in second at 1:11.08. Scotton was close to her own school record, 1:06.18, in the event.

“I knew I had to take it out strong and I’ve been working on staying strong through the race. It was a good race and I felt strong. I didn’t tighten up, so I was happy with it today,” Scotton said. “The relays mean a lot to us as a team. We work hard and hasn’t been one practice that anyone was slacking off. It shows how people care about the team.

“Being conference team champions for the third year in a row is awesome.”

Martin, Scotton, Miller and Hedrick won the 200 freestyle relay race in a school record time of 1:53.44. They smashed the old mark of 1:55.28 set last year by Carly Colville, Martin, Scotton and Hedrick. The foursome of Webb, Stout, Rhoads and R. Prendergast was second in 1:58.40.

Jenkins finished second in the 50-meter freestyle in 29.40 seconds and second in the 100 backstroke in 1:12.70. Sophomore Sarah Prendergast was third in the 400 freestyle race in 5:09.54 followed by Hanson in fourth in 5:10.65 and Myers in fifth in 5:14.31.

With the conference championship wrapped up, the Aquagirls lined up for the final event of the afternoon — the 400 freestyle relay. Scotton, R. Prendergast, Jenkins and Hedrick were out to break their own school record of 4:11.58 set on Sept. 11. They did, bringing it home in 4:10.70 for the victory and the record.

“It was a goal for us to sweep the relays and get the school records,” Jenkins said. “I felt good all day and it’s great to repeat as champions. Yes, I believe we are ready for next week (regionals). We’re excited about tapering this week and getting after it at regionals.”

NCMP’s B relay of Webb, S. Prendergast, Myers and Miller was second in 4:23.76.

“It was a fun meet. We had the girls fired up to dominate with good sportsmanship and go after that third straight conference championship,” Patterson said. “We took second to Boone last year in the 400 freestyle relay so it was awesome they way our girls go after that win and the record.”

Patterson said Eide will compete in the regional diving competition Thursday at Southeast Polk. NCMP has 14 swimmers competing in the regional swim meet at Indianola on Saturday.

Following the conference meet, NCMP honored the eight seniors — Hanson, McKenna Heisdorffer, Abby Jolivette, Martin, Prendergast, Scotton, Olivia Maharry and Anna Barr — and their parents.

North Central Iowa Conference

2014 Swim Championships

Team scores: NCMP 470, Decorah 293, Boone 248, Grinnell 176, Vinton-Shellsburg 97, Williamsburg 59, Charles City 42.

NCMP results

Diving — 4. Morgann Eide, 396.85 points.

200-m medley relay — 1. NCMP A (Sydney Jenkins, Hannah Rhoads, Hannah Scotton, Samantha Hedrick), 2:06.82 (school record), 2. NCMP B (Kira Hanson, Sierra Griffith, Sara Martin, Alexis Stout), 2:11.63.

200-m freestyle — 1. Madeline Webb, 2:22.10, 2. Rachel Prendergast, 2:22.39, 4. Elizabeth Myers,2:28.82.

200-m individual medley — 1. Rhoads, 2:38.66, 4. Emily Miller, 2:46.66, 5. Sierra Griffith, 3:48.01.

50-m freestyle — 2. Jenkins, 29.40, 4. Stout, 30.05, 10. Kaelee Knoll, 31.15.

100-m butterfly — 1. Scotton, 1:06.62, 2. Martin, 1:11.08, 4. Miller, 1:13.75.

100-m freestyle — 1. Hedrick, 59.59 (SR), 2. R. Prendergast, 1:03.97, 5. Webb, 1:04.59.

400-m freestyle — 3. Sarah Prendergast, 5:09.54, 4. Kira Hanson, 5:10.65, 5. Myers, 5:14.31.

200-m freestyle relay — 1. NCMP A (Martin, Scotton, Miller, Hedrick), 1:53.44 (SR), 2. NCMP B (Webb, Stout, Rhoads, R. Prendergast), 1:58.40.

100-m backstroke — 2. Jenkins, 1:12.70, 5. Hanson, 1:16.69, 8. Knoll, 1:17.81.

100-m breaststroke — 1. Martin, 1:22.03, 2. Rhoads, 1:22.41, 3. Sierra Griffith, 1:22.57.

400-m relay — 1. NCMP A (Scotton, R. Prendergast, Jenkins, Hedrick), 4:10.70 (SR), 2. NCMP B (Webb, S. Prendergast, Myers, Miller), 4:23.76Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com.