Aquagirls seek best times, strong finish at state swim meet

It’s been a hectic week for long-time NCMP swim coach Sarah Patterson.

With the girls’ season coming to a close at the state meet this weekend and the boys’ winter season kicking off on Monday, Patterson is trying to find time for both squads without losing her mind in the process.

“It’s been so fun. I was energized this morning, but it is stressful. I won’t lie,” Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella head swimming coach Sarah Patterson said. “I feel like I’m not all present. I’m split between the two teams, and I don’t like that. But it is what it is.”

The two teams are practicing at the same time. Patterson splits the eight-lane pool at the Newton YMCA into four lanes for each squad. There are nine Aquagirls competing at the Iowa High School Girls State Swimming Championships this weekend in Marshalltown.

Headlining the state roster is senior Lillie Ray, who will be on all three NCMP relays when the squad hits the Marshalltown YMCA pool at noon on Saturday in Marshalltown.

“The attitudes are great and they are a close-knit group, which makes it super fun,” Patterson said. “We have a good mix of veterans and some new people.

“We want to take care of business and have fun. But we are not there for just fun and games. Let’s see what we got. Can we improve? Can we beat Decorah in the 200 free relay?”

Ray will compete in her third state meet, while senior Maylei Ruggles is in the state meet for the fourth time. They will swim together one last time in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

“I don’t know if Lillie knows this or not, but I look up to her,” Ruggles said. “She’s so fast in the 50 freestyle and I take everything she says and try to really think about it. She’s been a role model for me.”

The Aquagirls finished in the top 10 of all three relays last season. The only swimmers left from those teams are Lillie Ray, sophomore Peyton Ray and Ruggles.

NCMP’s top seeded team this weekend will be the 200 freestyle relay. That foursome includes freshman Harper Barton, Peyton Ray, Ruggles and Lillie Ray.

The group enters the 200 freestyle relay seeded 14th out of 32 teams. NCMP’s season-best time of 1 minute, 42.11 seconds puts it in lane 7 of heat 3.

“We haven’t talked a lot about team goals, but I would love to get under a 25.5 for my split,” Ruggles said. “Since I’m not swimming the 100 fly, it gives me the opportunity to work on my freestyle technique this week.

“I need faster flip turns and my transition kicking needs work too.”

Peyton Ray is swimming in her second state meet. The rest of the state squad will be on the big stage for the first time in their prep careers. That list includes Barton, freshman Tori White and sophomores Paige Benson, Alex Riney and Addison Van Maanen. Junior Estella Allen is the team’s alternate for all three relays.

“I always have a theme for the state meet and this year’s is hyper speed,” Patterson said. “We have to do something different to get faster this weekend. We just can’t rest on our laurels. There has to be something different and something faster.”

The 400 freestyle relay team of Peyton Ray, Riney, Van Maanen and Lillie Ray enter the state meet seeded 15th out of 32 teams. They qualified with a season-best time of 3:45.89 and will be in lane 1 of heat 3.

The Ray sisters were on the 400 freestyle relay team last year when NCMP placed 10th at the state meet.

“We want to move up from our seed,” Lillie Ray said. “We are focused on staying in front of Ankeny in the 400 freestyle relay and staying above Valley in the 200 freestyle relay. We’d like to catch Decorah, too.”

Peyton Ray wants the 400 freestyle relay team to drop time again, and she’s out to move in front of any team who beat them earlier this season.

“It would be nice to beat Decorah in all three relays,” Peyton Ray said. “Those are really the only goals we have besides dropping time.”

Riney and Van Maanen are excited for their first appearance at state. They both confirmed the team has focused a lot on turns and exchanges in practice this week.

“I just want to put it all out there, not hold back and bring it all home,” Van Maanen said. “I want to fight for my relay team. We want to finish strong and finish as one. We dropped 5 seconds at districts so another 3- or 4-second time cut would be awesome.”

Riney wants to give it her all for Patterson and move up from their seed.

“I know I want to get a PR, and I want to do it for Coach P because this is her last year,” Riney said. “Coach P said my turns need the most work so we are breaking those down. When she sees a mistake, she knows what needs to be done to fix it.”

The 200 medley relay team features White, Barton, Lillie Ray and Benson. That’s two freshmen, a sophomore and a senior.

The group swam a season-best time of 1:53.89 at regionals to qualify 19th out of 32 teams. The Aquagirls’ foursome will be in lane 3 of heat 2.

“We have one team who is about 2 seconds faster than us so one of our goals is to move past them,” said White, who will swim the backstroke to open the medley relay. “We want a PR, but for me personally, I want to get around a 28-second split. I did that at districts but have only been under 30 a few times.

“My transition kicking needs work. I’m trying to hammer that. I fell behind at districts, but my stroke caught me up. I don’t want to get behind though. I want to start ahead and stay ahead.”

Benson said she is working on her turns, too. At the regional meet, she barely hit the wall on her turn and didn’t get a good push off it. She will swim the freestyle anchor leg of the 200 medley relay in her first state meet.

“That’s never happened before so I will definitely be thinking about that and trying to focus on not letting it happen again,” Benson said about her turn at the regional meet. “I want to be at around 25 seconds for my 50.”

Barton will swim the breaststroke leg of the medley relay and opens the 200 freestyle relay. She wants to have one final experience with her friends this weekend.

“It’s a real privilege to be on two relays with girls I spend most of my time with,” Barton said. “I just hope we have a good day, a fast day and we can all encourage each other.”

Allen is excited to be a part of the state meet for the first time. She adds another breaststroker to the workouts and has pushed Barton in practice this week.

“If needed, I will swim,” Allen said. “I’m excited even as an alternate. It’s a huge opportunity. The goal is to make it to state next year. I was only 2 seconds off this year. This will help push me into next season.”

Lillie Ray is in her final season as an Aquagirl. And Saturday will be the last time she puts on the NCMP swimsuit and competes with her best friends.

“I have made peace with the fact that I’m done after this,” Lillie Ray said. “If my races don’t go the way I want them to go, I know I have done everything I can do this season to prepare and swim the best I can swim for my team.”