By Becky Walz,
Aside from celebrating its seniors last week, the Decorah girls’ swim and dive team is celebrating its second straight North Central Conference title and the 14th in school history.
Conference title
“The girls had a goal to win conference again this year and they got that accomplished. From the start of the meet to the very last event they showed more grit and determination than any team there,” said Coach Allie Bachelder of Saturday’s conference meet in Marshalltown. “We were seeded to finish second based on Quikstats, but they were determined to come home as champions. I could not be prouder of this team. We had nearly all personal best times and fought through every race to maximize every point we could get. It was an exciting day and now we prepare for regionals in two weeks.”
Decorah showed dominance in the water, winning five golds. At the end of the day the Vikes tallied 439 points over second place NCMP’s 386. Boone finished a distant third with 222 points.
The 200 medley relay opened the day with gold in 1:55.00. Members of the winning quartet were Maeley Nefzger, Margaret Rhodes, Emily Voyna and Paige Werner.
Julia Alberts followed it up with a title in the 200 free, touching the wall first in 2:03.83. Rhodes kept the ball rolling in the 200 IM in 2:19.36 and later added a third win to her day in the 500 free in 5:26.64. Werner won her second race of the day, stopping the clock first in the 50 free in 25.51 seconds.
The Vikings also had seven silvers and two bronze.
Team scores
1. Decorah 439; 2. NCMP 386; 3. Boone 222; 4. Grinnell 137; 5. Vinton-Shellsburg 135; 6. Williamsburg 39; 7. Oskaloosa 27
Varsity race results
1 mtr. diving – 2. Brinley Krivachek 380.60; 8. Chloe Sheffied 194.35
200 medley relay – 1. Maeley Nefzger, Margaret Rhodes, Emily Voyna, Paige Werner, 1:55.00; 4. Thea Schissel, Lauren Johnson, Ashley Elsbernd, Kylie O’Hara, 2:01.60; Exh. – Jorja Folkedahl, Lily Iverson, Kalissa Schmelzer, Autumn Schmitt, 2:40.47
200 free – 1. Julia Alberts, 2:03.83; 2. Katerina Kovarik, 2:04.97; 5. Joey Vobr 2:12.97
200 IM – 1. Rhodes, 2:19.36; 4. A. Elsbernd, 2:32.61; 6. Schissel, 2:34.99
50 free – 1. Werner, 25.51; 6. Voyna 26.95; 7. Grace Bachelder, 26.95; Exh. – Kendra Elsbernd, 28.52; Erick Ollendick, 28.83; Rebecca Bruening 28.86; Grace Stegen, 29.24; Rylee Kapler, 29.32; Schmelzer, 31.30; Bridget Bentley, 31.68; Folkedahl, 32.10; Schmitt 32.26; Faith Starrett, 34.36; MaKenzie Tollefson, 34.48; Annie Ondrashek 34.48; Naomi Simon, 34.50; Iverson, 34.93
100 fly – 2. Voyna, 1:01.46; 4. A. Elsbernd, 1:08.10; 9. Mya Redenius, 1:12.84
100 free – 3. Alberts, 56.05; 4. Nefzger, 58.39; 6. Bachelder, 58.71; Exh. – Bruening 1:02.75; Ollendick, 1:03.32; K. Elsbernd, 1:03.90; Johnson, 1:04.53; Stegen, 1:05.05; Kapler, 1:05.88; Schmelzer, 1:10.28; Folkedahl, 1:11.11; Bentley, 1:13.54; Schmitt, 1:15.40; Iverson, 1:15.90; Tollefson, 1:16.33; Ondrashek, 1:17.38; Starrett, 1:18.49; Simon, 1:19.73
500 free – 1. Rhodes, 5:26.64; 2. Werner, 5:38.70; 4. Vobr, 5:55.00;
200 free relay – 2. Voyna, Nefzger, Kovarik, Alberts, 1:44.33; 6. O’Hara, Kapler, Redenius, Bachelder, 1:51.88; Exh – Bruening, K. Elsbernd, Ollendick, Stegen, 1:58.42
100 back – 4. Nefzger, 1:07.29; Schissel, 1:07.92; 7. O’Hara, 1:02.12
100 breast – 2. Kovarik, 1:15.17; 5. Johnson, 1:16.78; 9. Redenius, 1:20.76
400 free relay – 2. Werner, 3:44.39; 3. A. Elsbernd, O’Hara, Schissel, Bachelder, 3:59.02; Exh. – Vobr, Ollendick, Kapler, Bruening, 4:41.23
Senior night
Decorah dominated the water at the Luther Natatorium Thursday, sweeping Algona away 151-23 and winning all 12 events.
Margaret Rhodes and Emily Voyna each won four golds. Both competed in the 200-medley relay with Lauren Johnson and Grace Bachelder. Rhodes also touched the wall first in the 200 free and 500 free to go with a win in the 200 free relay. Along with the first event, Voyna stopped the clock first in the 50 free and 100 free and finished the night off with a win in the 400 free with Ashley Elsbernd, Johnson and Bachelder.
Katerina Kovarik bested the 200 IM field for gold, while Nefzger took first in the 100 back and Brenna Parker won the 100 breast. Winners of the 200 free relay was the quartet of A. Elsbernd, Johnson, Paige Werner and Rhodes. With 258 points it was Brinley Krivachek taking the top spot in the 1-meter diving event.
Team scores
1. Decorah 151; 2. Algona 23
Varsity race results
200 medley relay – 1. Margaret Rhodes, Lauren Johnson, Emily Voyna, Grace Bachelder, 2:03.85; 2. Paige Werner, Mya Redenius, Grace Stegen, Maeley Nefzger, 2:10.14; 3. Thea Schissel, Rebecca Bruening, Kylie O’Hara, Naomi Simon, 2:21.80; 4. Kendra Elsbernd, Erica Ollendick, Brenna Parker, Autumn Schmitt, 2:28.87; 6. Jorja Folkedahl, Bridget Bentley, Kalissa Schmelzer, McKenzie Tollefson, 2:35.96
200 free – 1. Rhodes, 2:09.26; 2. Werner 2:11.93; 3. Bruening 2:23.80; 4. Joey Vobr, 2:26.69; 5. Lily Iverson, 2:44.58; 6. Faith Starrett, 2:45.63
200 IM – 1. Katerina Kovarik, 2:28.64; 2. Julia Alberts, 2:37.51; 4. Redenius, 2:46.86; 5. Ollendick, 2:52.31
50 free – 1. Voyna, 26.96; 2. Schissel, 28:38; 3. O’Hara, 29.08; 5. K. Elsbernd, 29.48; 6. Rylee Kapler, 29.66; 7. Stegen, 30.32; 8. Bentley, 32.60; 9. Parker, 32.69; 10. Folkedahl, 33.07; 11. Annie Ondrashek, 35.15; 12. Tollefson, 35.38; 13. Simon, 36.54
1 mtr. diving – 1. Brinley Krivachek, 258.00; 2. Kailyn O’Gara, 207.00; 3. Paige Lange, 164.95; 4. Chloe Sheffield, 141.05
100 fly – 1. Werner, 1:08.31; 2. Ashley Elsbernd, 1:11.50; 3. Nefzger, 1:12.59; 4. Schmelzer, 1:18.13; 5. Schmitt, 1:19.75; 6. Vobr, 1:21.07
100 free – 1. Voyna, 59.88; 2. Alberts, 1:01.22; 3. Kovarik, 1:01.72; 4. K. Elsbernd, 1:04.18; 5. O’Hara, 1:07.06; 7. Folkedahl, 1:13.15; 8. Bentley, 1:14.38; 9. Tollefson, 115.84; 10. Ondrashek, 1:19.42
500 free – 1. Rhodes, 5:35.47; 2. Bachelder, 6:12.31; 3. Bruening, 6:21.11; 5. Schmelzer, 7:03.93; 6. Iverson, 7:08.72; 7. Starrett, 7:19.37
200 free relay – 1. A. Elsbernd, Johnson, Werner, Rhodes, 1:53.80; 2. Alberts, Simon, Kapler, Kovarik, 1:59.70; 3. Redenius, Parker, Ollendick, Vobr, 2:06.53; 4. Bentley, Folkedahl, Ondrashek, Iverson, 2:21.01; 5. Schmitt, Schmelzer, Tollefson, Starrett, 2:24.16
100 back – 1. Nefzger, 1:08.86; 2. Schissel, 1:12.46; 4. Bachelder, 1:16.62; 5. A. Elsbernd, 1:17.72; 6. Stegen, 1:19.04; 7. Schmitt, 1:27.55
100 breast – 1. Parker, 1:20.69; 2. Johnson, 1:21.96; 4. Redenius, 1:26.04; 5. Kappler, 1:26.04; 6. Ollendick, 1:33.83
400 free relay – 1. Voyna, A. Elsbernd, Bachelder, Johnson, 4:37.42; 2. Alberts, Nefzger, Schissel, Kovarik, 4:37.95; 3. O’Hara, Vobr, Bruening, Kapler, 4:39.70; 4. Stegen, Starrett, Iverson, K. Elsbernd, 4:58.82
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