After a series of dual meets, Northeast Range/ Ely got its first taste of a larger meet last Saturday at Hibbing.
The Nighthawks placed eighth at the Sept. 13 Hibbing Invitational, an event that attracted nine teams including several from much larger schools.
A young, thin Nighthawk team had its moments - with senior Via DeBeltz placing fourth in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle.
The senior was also part of a sixth-place NRE relay team, while three Nighthawks - Tuuli Koivisto, Alyssa Ice and Ivy Ohlhauser - came home with 11th-place finishes.
“We had some great swims,” said NRE Head Coach Cheri DeBetlz. “A few of our girls made the topeight and top-16. They are starting to gain confidence with every meet.”
Via DeBeltz had the biggest day of any Nighthawk, placing fourth in the 500 in 6:14.07, and adding another top-six showing by taking sixth in the 200 in 2:19.33.
It was DeBeltz, Jorden Borchert, Tuuli Koivisto and Ice who formed a sixth-place 200 freestyle relay team that finished in 1:58.45.
Koivisto placed 11th in the 100 backstroke in 1:16.89, coming within a whisker of the top-10.
Ice also just missed the top-10 in the 50 freestyle, placing 11th in 28.63 seconds.
Ohlhauser came within less than three-tenths of a second of the top-10 in the 100 freestyle, also settling for 11th in 1:07.19.
In the 400 freestyle relay, NRE’s Ohlhauser, Lindsay Israel, Jorden Borchert and Lucy Luthens wound up 10th in 4:36.80.
NRE finished with 119 points for the day, far ahead of ninth-place Chisholm and within 41 of seventh-place Stella Maris Academy of Duluth.
Other NRE finishers were:
• 200 medley relay - 20. Moon Vetos-Keen, Maddie Johnson, Raegan Borchert, Lindsay Israel, 2:36.88;
• 200 freestyle - 18. Luthens, 2:33.80; 28. Bela Moskowitz, 2:53.37;
• 200 individual medley 14, Koivisto, 2:53.35;
• 50 freestyle - 19. Raegan Borchert, 30.78;
• 100 butterfly - 18. Israel, 1:31.18; • 100 freestyle - 24. Avery Bee, 1:16.57; 28. Nicole Freking, 1:21.57;
• 500 freestyle -16. Raegan Borchert, 7:08.56;
• 200 freestyle relay - 18. Bee, Johnson, Vetos-Keen, Borchert, 2:14.21;
•100 backstroke - 16. Evelyn Moran, 1:26.87; 20. Vetos-Keen, 1:30.44; 30. Freking, 1:51.69;
• 100 backstroke - 14. Jorden Borchert, 1:28.96; 16. Ice, 1:29.56; 22. Johnson, 1:32.92; 31. Moskowitz, 1:46.31;
• 400 freestyle relay 23. Moran, Moskowitz, Vetos- Keen, Freking, 5:18.57.
The Nighthawks returned to the water Thursday, with a home meet against Chisholm.
