Rock Ridge splashes past NRE

by Tom Coombe
Rock Ridge got out to a fast start Tuesday and made that hold up in a high school girls swimming victory over Northeast Range/Ely.
The final score was 47-45, but the Nighthawks swept all of the points in the last two events after the Wolverines had clinched the team victory at Eveleth.
In contested races, Rock Ridge won eight of nine events with the only Nighthawk victory coming from Ely senior Lily Tedrick, who won the 160 yard individual medley.
Tedrick’s win was a dominant one as she finished in 1:57.82, nearly six seconds in front of her next-closest foe.
In the 100 yard butterfly, Tedrick came close but wound up rougly a second short against winner Hailey Pechonick. Tedrick’s time was 1:11.41.
There were a string of second-place individual showings by the Nighthawks, starting with Morgan McClelland in the 200 freestyle (2:26.28), followed Kelly Thompson (60 freestyle, 37.22), Anna Larson (100 freestyle, 1:03.79) and Maggie Dammann (100 backstroke).
Two NRE relays also were second behind Rock Ridge teams.
Esther Anderson teamed with Tedrick, Larson and Thompson as a runner-up combination in the 160 medley relay (1:41.07), in an exciting race that was decided by just over a second.
The same was true in the 160 freestyle relay, as a Rock Ridge unit edged the team of Anderson, Larson, Cedar Ohlhauser and McCelland by 1.08 seconds.
Once the outcome was decided NRE had one-two sweeps in both the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay.
Via Debeltz won the 100 in 1:30.37 with teammate Alli Krekelberg in second, while it was Tedrick, Larson, Thompson and McClelland winning the 400 freestyle relay in 4:23.19.
Taking second were the Nighthawks’ Anderson, Dammann, Carena DeBeltz and Ohlhauser (5:06.33).
Individual thirds went to NRE’s Anderson (60 freestyle), Ohlhauser (100 butterfly) and McClelland (500 freestyle).
The Nighthawks hosted Duluth Denfeld Thursday, after deadline, and next up is this Saturday’s Hibbing Invitational.
A home meet at Babbitt, against Chisholm, is slated for Sept. 22 at 5 p.m.