NCMP wins twice on emotional Senior Night

Nick Shelton couldn’t help but get emotional on Tuesday during the Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella girls swim team’s home meet against Oskaloosa and Perry.

Shelton’s first group of swimmers he coached several years back are now seniors. And Senior Night was just a little too much for the second-year NCMP coach.

“They were the first girls I coached and now they are seniors,” Shelton said. “It was an emotional night. It’s awesome to see them grow as swimmers and as people. But it’s also hard to talk about them and not get emotional.”

Shelton wasn’t the only person inside the Newton YMCA pool who shed a few tears. Most of the girls in the large 10-person class, their parents and the rest of the Aquagirls also were emotional as the seniors swam at home for the final time in their prep careers.

NCMP did come away with a pair of wins though. The Aquagirls won every race against Oskaloosa and downed the Indians 114-43. They also defeated Perry 104-52. Oskaloosa edged the Bluejays 77-72 in their matchup.

“I’m grateful. I’ve been swimming since I was 8. That’s a long time to be pretty much with all of these girls,” senior Izzy Lane said. “We’re getting ready to move on to the next chapter of our lives, but I’m proud of everybody. This is the last time we get to compete in our pool and that can be emotional. It was more so for me because my Dad was not here. He was my rock since I was little. I thought he would be here for this meet, but we lost him four years ago. That took a toll on me for this meet just knowing that he’s not here. But it’s also why I’m trying to push myself more this year.”

Lane has established herself at the top of the varsity lineup in the butterfly. She won the 100-meter butterfly on Tuesday and was part of the winning 200 medley relay team.

Six seniors were part of at least one overall win against Oskaloosa and Perry. Peyton Ray and Addison Van Maanen scored three wins, while Avery Meyer, Alex Riney and Paige Benson all secured one victory.

Harper Barton and Tori White led the non-seniors with three wins and one runner-up finish.

NCMP finished 1-2 overall in all three relays and White and senior Hailey Dickerson were 1-2 in the 100 backstroke.

White, Van Maanen, Lane and Barton won the 200 medley relay in 2 minutes, 9.63 seconds. The runner-up team of Dickerson, senior Anna DeVries, Benson and Riney finished in 2:18.61.

In the 200 freestyle relay, the foursome of Ray, Benson, Riney and Barton won the race in 1:54.74. Lane, White, DeVries and Temple Barton were second in 2:02.17.

In the final race of the night, NCMP’s foursome of Ray, White, Van Maanen and Harper Barton won the 400 freestyle relay in 4:19.37. Lane, Dickerson, DeVries and Riney finished second in 4:34.49.

“We’re all good in different areas. He can mix us all up because we’re around the same times,” Lane said about the relays. “I think we’re at that point where we’re figuring out times still. Coach Nick will have a plan for us and whatever he thinks is best, we’ll be good with it.”

Shelton is still trying to figure out who the four swimmers in each relay will be. The competition for each relay goes about seven deep at this point.

“I switched it up again to get a new look,” Shelton said. “There’s only so many relays and they’re all swimming really good times. It’s going to come down to who’s the most consistent at that race.

“It’s going to be tough and we’ll have to have some hard conversations at some point, but we built the team so we’re ready for that. I always give them the why. I don’t just do it to do it.”

White’s winning time in the 100 backstroke was clocked in 1:13.51. Dickerson was the runner-up in 1:20.66.

The Aquagirls won every race against Oskaloosa, but Perry’s lineup features Quin Mahler-Moreno, who has hit auto state qualifying times in the 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

Mahler-Moreno gave NCMP great competition in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

Ray was the runner-up in the 200 freestyle in 2:17.77 and Temple Barton finished third in 2:26.68. Mahler-Moreno won the race in 2:13.31.

Harper Barton stayed close to the Perry standout in the 100 breaststroke. Mahler-Moreno won the race in 1:16.28, but Barton came within a second at 1:17.15. Van Maanen finished third overall in 1:24.45.

“Coming off the Valley meet where we had tough competition and then seeing (Mahler-Moreno) tonight, it shows what’s out there, how we stack up and what we have to do to get to the upper level. It was good for us,” Shelton said.

Addison Van Maanen won the 200 IM in 2:41.24 and Alexa Van Maanen (2:59.81) was second against Oskaloosa and third in the matchup with Perry.

Lane’s winning time in the 100 butterfly was clocked in 1:14.39. Benson (1:22.74) was second against Oskaloosa and third in the matchup against Perry.

“We’ve always tried to leave a legacy in this program, and I’m doing the best I can to leave my mark and accomplishing everything I can in my last year,” Lane said. “This will be my last chance in the water so pushing myself hasn’t been too hard.”

Ray and Temple Barton also went head-to-head in the 100 freestyle. Ray won the race in 1:02.38 and Barton (1:06.22) took second against the Indians and third against the Bluejays.

Meyer won the 400 freestyle in 5:25.65. Fellow senior Veronica Mark took second against Perry with a time of 5:55.84.

“I feel like I was stuck a bit and not dropping much time,” Meyer said. “We’ve been working on technique and that’s helped me with my time drops lately. I’m getting in a groove.”

Riney (29.37) and Benson (30.71) were 1-2 against Oskaloosa and 2-3 against Perry in the 50 freestyle.

The NCMP junior varsity also had little trouble in the double dual. The Aquagirls JV downed Oskaloosa 94-12 and scored a 94-11 win over Perry.

Meyer was part of the winning JV 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, senior Haylee White joined Meyer on the winning JV 200 freestyle relay team and Mark anchored the JV 400 freestyle relay team to a win.

Dickerson (31.13) won the JV 50 freestyle and would have placed third in the varsity race against Oskaloosa. DeVries (1:26.91) won the JV 100 breaststroke and would have finished third against Oskaloosa and fourth in the matchup with Perry in the varsity races.

“I tried to space out the seniors so they could have one last hoorah,” Shelton said. “I think it went pretty well.”

Notes: Peyton Phillips, Emalee Weuve and Julia Nedder all contributed three JV wins, while Meyer and Kimberlee Miller scored two JV victories. Brilea Moffitt also won the JV 100 backstroke … Nedder’s individual JV win came in the 100 butterfly, but her time of 1:20.12 would have placed her third in the varsity race. … Weuve won the JV 400 freestyle in 5:37.51, which would have placed her second in the varsity race behind Meyer. … Meyer is a bit of a Swiss Army knife for the Aquagirls. While her main varsity event is the 400/500 freestyle, she also competed in the JV 50 freestyle and swam the butterfly leg of the JV 200 medley relay. “I used to swim fly when I was younger,” Meyer said. “But I tried the 500 once and fell in love with it. I’m way better with endurance than I am with sprints. It’s easier for me to do well in the 500 than the 50s. I do the 50s for fun and to help fill the lineup.”