Aquagirls record four PR swims at state meet

MARSHALLTOWN — Four NCMP Aquagirls swam at the state meet in the Linda Bloom Natatorium on Friday night. And all four posted career-best times in the pool.

While only one advanced to tomorrow’s final round, the day went about as well as head coach Sarah Patterson could have hoped.

“To come here and drop even more time was awesome,” Patterson said. “They swam relaxed today. They were just excited to be here and channeled their nervous energy, which has not always been the case. It’s easy to be nervous here, but I didn’t see that today.”

Senior Hannah Nedder came into the Iowa High School Girls State Swimming Championships with the third best qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly. And that’s exactly where she’ll be tomorrow when she swims in the ‘A’ final for the first time in her career.

Nedder won her heat with a personal-best time of 56.45 seconds. And her third-place finish allows her to compete for her first-ever podium finish in the final round.

“I’m excited. It felt really good. I was working on my breakout and my turns and I think those went really well,” Nedder said. “There’s a couple things I will work on tomorrow to hopefully get faster, but it was a really good race.”

The next best finish for the Aquagirls was senior Alexa Heiar, who took 17th in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Lillie Ray finished 23rd in the 50 freestyle and junior Maylei Ruggles was 26th in the 100 butterfly.

All four Aquagirls will return to the pool for three relays on Saturday. And swimming personal-best times in all four individual events is a good sign for what could be yet to come, according to Patterson.

Heiar’s 17th-place finish was bittersweet. She turned in a personal-best time of 1 minute, 7.68 seconds, but the top 16 times advanced to Saturday.

“The time is amazing. That’s the good part. But it was disappointing that I came so close to making it,” Heiar said. “One little, tiny thing can be a deciding factor.”

Both Ray and Ruggles came into the meet with different individual goals. And both of them passed their own test with flying colors.

Ray entered the meet seeded 26th but finished 23rd with a career-best time of 24.92 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

The top time of 22.6 came from Meghan Donald of Ames, the 16th best time was clocked in 24.6 and the eighth-best time was 23.88.

“I’m very happy with where I am. I told coach on the way over here the only thing I wanted to do tonight was go under 25 in the 50 free,” Ray said. “When the reality sunk in, it was crazy. I could have finished last but got under 25 and I would have been happy.”

Ruggles turned in a personal-best time of 1:01.50. She came into the state meet with the 32nd and final qualifying time but finished 26th on Friday.

“I looked up at the scoreboard and kind of just expected to be upset at my time because there was a lot of things I could have done differently,” Ruggles said. “The goal was to beat one person so the time ended up not really mattering. I did what I wanted to do. Tonight wasn’t about time for me. I just wanted to show that I belonged here.”

Nedder’s time of 56.45 was .60 seconds back from Ames’ Mikayla Kroth (55.85), who was the second best qualifier. Iowa City West’s Scarlet Martin’s 53.41 led the way.

“On the big stage and she dropped more time. That was huge for her,” Patterson said. “She doesn’t celebrate much and isn’t loud, but I could tell she was happy.”

Patterson said Ruggles got out too fast in a race she’s still trying to figure out.

“Maylei learned a lot today and still dropped time,” Patterson said. “She went out too fast and probably didn’t breathe enough, but she is so inexperienced with that event.”

The plan for Ray was to get up to full speed quicker.

“We talked about a good breakout. Sometimes she has a hard time getting up to speed because she’s really more of a 100 swimmer,” Patterson said. “She stepped on the gas right away. That was the plan.”

While a 17th-place finish was a heartbreaker, Patterson said Heiar has come so far and swam great.

“She’s kind of bummed right now. She dropped another second though. That’s not easy to do,” Patterson said. “It’s too bad she was 17th, but you can’t be mad at that time drop.”

Saturday’s competition begins at noon. The schedule includes individual finals and timed finals of all three relays, which NCMP will be a part of.

The goal for Nedder in the 100 butterfly has not changed. She’s going for a top-six finish and hoping to walk up the podium steps for the first time in her career.

“The goal is the same. I can’t control what everyone else does, but I hope there’s more time to drop,” Nedder said. “I think it will be good competition, and I’m excited to see what I can do.”