By Becky Walz,
The Decorah girls’ swim and dive team opened the season last week with the slightest of margin victory over Mason City Thursday and at the Ram Relays Saturday.
Mason City dual
Thursday, it was the fight to the finish as it took the Viking 400 free relay to claim gold for Decorah to win the dual meet, 52-50.
“It was a fun first meet of the season against a strong Mason City team. It came down to the last relay and we came out with the victory. I was happy with how the team came together to compete, but we have quite a few things to improve on going forward with the season,” said Coach Allie Bachelder.
Decorah claimed first in five events. Earning gold individually were Paige Werner in the 50 free in 26.34 seconds and the 100 free in 57.77; Brinley Krivachek in the 1-meter diving event with 222.40 points. Two relays also touched the wall first including the 200 free relay of Emily Voyna, Julia Alberts, Maeley Nefzger and Werner in 1:47.42. Clinching the dual win was the 400 free quartet of Voyna, Nefzger, Alberts and Katerina Kovarik.
Varsity race results
200 medley relay – 2. Margaret Rhodes, Katerina Kovarik, Emily Voyna, Paige Werner, 2:00.78; 3. Thea Schissel, Lauren Johnson, Ashley Elsbernd, Maeley Nefzger, 2:10.16
200 free – 2. Joey Vobr, 2:22.01; 4. Grace Bachelder, 2:27.83
200 IM – 2. Rhodes, 2:27.93; 3. Julia Alberts, 2:34.57
50 free – 1. Werner, 26.34; 3. Nefzger, 27.70
1 mtr. diving – 1. Brinley Krivachek, 222.40; 3. Kailyn O’Gara, 198.90
100 fly – 2. Rhodes, 1:05.47; 3. Alberts, 1:13.84
100 free – 1. Werner, 57.77; 2. Voyna, 59.21
500 free – 2. Kovarik, 5:53.77; 3. Bachelder, 6:49.80
200 free relay – 1. Voyna, Alberts, Nefzger, Werner, 1:47.42; 3. A. Elsbernd, Kylie O’Hara, Mya Redenius, Rhodes, 1:56.11
100 back – 3. A. Elsbernd, 1:15.18; 4. Schissel, 1:15.40
100 breast – 3. Kovarik, 1:18.07; 4. Johnson, 1:24.83
400 free relay – 1. Voyna, Nefzger, Alberts, Kovarik, 4:00.52; 3. O’Hara, Grace Stegen, Schissel, Bachelder, 4:29.59
JV race results
200 medley relay – 1. Bachelder, Erica Ollendick, Stegen, O’Hara, 2:16.40; 2. Kendra Elsbernd, Rylee Kapler, Kalissa Schmelzer, Rebecca Bruening, 2:18.45
200 free – 1. Redenius, 2:32.78; 2. Brenna Parker, 2:39.98
200 IM – 1. Elayna Hook, 2:50.18; 2. Ollendick, 3:03.42
50 free – 1. Redenius, 30.51; 2. Kapler, 30.87; Exh. K. Elsbernd, 29.79; Exh. Bruening, 30.86; Exh. Stegen, 30.97; Exh. Johnson, 31.31; Exh. Bridget Bentley, 31.52; Exh. Kalissa Schmelzer, 32.72; Exh. Autumn Schmitt, 33.04; Exh. Jorja Folkedahl, 33.64; Exh. Parker, 33.84; Exh. Faith Starrett, 34.33; Exh. Lily Iverson, 34.73; Exh. Naomi Simon, 36.64; Exh. Addie Hershberger, 36.77; Exh. McKenzie Tollefson, 37.21
1 mtr. diving – 1. Paige Lange, 155.70; 2. Leslie Campbell, 134.45
100 fly – 1. A. Elsbernd, 1:13.01; 2. Stegen, 1:24.41
100 free – 1. O’Hara, 1:06.05; 2. Kapler, 1:10.10; Exh. Schissel, 1:06.48; Exh., Hook, 1:10.43; Exh. Schmelzer, 1:15.29; Exh. Folkedahl, 1:15.36; Exh. Schmitt, 1:17.74; Exh. Tollefson, 1:22.58; Exh. Hershberger, 1:25.12; Exh. Simon, 1:25.12
500 free – 1. Bruening, 6:41.81; 2. Iverson, 7:10.86; 3. Starrett, 7:49.79
200 free relay – 1. Bentley, Folkedahl, Hershberger, Hook, 2:13.51; 2. Vobr, Ollendick, Simon, Schmitt, 2:13.56
100 back – 1. Vobr, 1:14.49; 2. K. Elsbernd, 1:16.21
100 breast – 3. Ollendick, 1:36.80; 4. Bentley, 1:38.73
400 free relay – 1. Vobr, Redenius, Parker, Johnson, 4:53.32
Ram Relays
Saturday, the Vikings traveled to Dubuque Senior for the Ram Relays. The Vikings finished third overall with 68 points. Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the day with 99 points.
In the meet, the squad was broken into four teams, with two varsity squads and two freshmen/sophomore teams.
The highest finish in the varsity meet was from the 200 free relay team. Julia Alberts, Maeley Nefzger, Emily Voyna and Paige Werner combined to take second in 1:46.56. Decorah also won silver in the 1-meter diving competition with 399.40 points.
Taking third for the varsity Vikings were the 600 free, 300 fly and 400 free relays. In the 600 free it was Werner, Grace Bachelder and Alberts posting a time of 6:46.69. Teaming up in the 300 fly were Alberts, Nefzger and Voyna. The trio stopped the clock at 3:30.28. It was Werner, Nefzger, Voyna and Alberts combining for a time of 3:56.57 in the 400 free relay as well.
“We had a great day in the pool,” said Coach Bachelder. “To come out third in a big invite was a huge success. I saw some great things from this team, which makes me excited to see what the season will bring.”
Coming up
The Vikings get right back in the pool Tuesday, Aug. 31, with a triangular meet at Cedar Falls with the Tigers and Dubuque Hempstead at 6 p.m.
Ram Relays varsity results
1 mtr. diving – 2. Decorah 399.40
200 medley relay – 5. Emily Voyna, Katerina Kovarik, Margaret Rhodes, Maeley Nefzger, 2:02.88
600 free relay – 3. Paige Werner, Grace Bachelder, Julia Alberts, 6:46.69
400 medley relay – 4. Margaret Rhodes, Katerina Kovarik, 4:53.95
200 free relay – 2. Julia Alberts, Maeley Nefzger, Emily Voyna, Paige Werner, 1:46.56
300 fly relay – 3. Julia Alberts, Maeley Nefzger, Emily Voyna, 3:30.28
1000 free relay – 4. Margaret Rhodes, Katerina Kovarik, 11:38.54
300 back relay – 5. Paige Werner, Thea Schissel, Margaret Rhodes, 3:26.92
300 breast relay – 5. Brenna Parker, Lauren Johnson, Katerina Kovarik, 4:04.34
400 free relay – 3. Paige Werner, Maeley Nefzger, Emily Voyna, Julia Alberts, 3:56.57
Ram Relays JV results
1 mtr. diving – 3. Decorah 264.00
200 medley relay – 3. Ashley Elsbernd, Lauren Johnson, Kalissa Schmelzer, Grace Bachelder, 2:13.48
600 free relay – 3. Elayna Hook, Erica Ollendick, Rebecca Bruening, 7:30.64
400 medley relay – 2. Joey Vobr, Mya Redenius, 5:32.56
200 free relay – 4. Grace Stegen, Naomi Simon, Faith Starrett, McKenzie Tollefson, 2:14.73
300 fly relay – 3. Kalissa Schmelzer, Lauren Johnson, Ashley Elsbernd, 4:04.29
1000 free relay – 5. Faith Starrett, Lily Iverson, 14:53.44
300 back relay – 2. Grace Bachelder, Joey Vobr, Kendra Elsbernd, 3:43.44
300 breast relay – 2. Rebecca Bruening, Mya Redenius, Erica Ollendick, 4:29.94
400 free relay – 2. Erica Ollendick, Rylee Kapler, Ashley Elsbernd, Joey Vobr, 4:24.90
Ram Relays 9/10 varsity results
200 medley relay – 5. Thea Schissel, Brenna Parker, Grace Stegen, Kylie O’Hara, 2:13.85
200 free relay – 4. Kylie O’Hara, Thea Schissel, Rylee Kapler, Ashley Elsbernd, 1:55.85
400 free relay – 4. Kylie O’Hara, Grace Bachelder, Mya Redenius, Grace Stegen, 4:26.32
Ram Relays fresh/soph JV results
200 medley relay – 1. Mya Redenius, Rylee Kapler, Elayna Hook, Rebecca Bruening, 2:18.97
400 free relay – 1. Kendra Elsbernd, Rebecca Bruening, Naomi Simon, McKenzie Tollefson, 4:59.70
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