Times drop at sections for NRE swimmers

So 2020: Swimming
in the dark
Last weekend at the Section 7A Swim meet in Aurora. For the final event, the 400 freestyle relay had to swim in the dark.
“We had lost power and we had to use the emergency lights and the girls used cell phone flashlights to light up the pool,” said head coach Cheri DeBeltz. “We also have a team GPA average of 3.75, we received Gold standard for the MSHSL. This small and very young team has done a wonderful job this season. We are very proud of them.”
by Tom Coombe
2020.
How else would one rationally explain the finish of Saturday’s Section 7A girls swmming meet at Aurora, where the power went out and the final event was held with the light from dozens of cell phones?
It made for an odd end to probably the oddest of all seasons, given the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Northeast Range/Ely lagged behind in the overall standings, taking 10th among 11 teams in a meet split between three different pools across the section.
But points and standings took a back seat to times for a young Nighthawk team that went up among several larger schools.
NRE had many strong moments during the event, with Morgan McClelland securing the top Nighthawk individual finish and Lily Tedrick scoring a pair of top-10 outings.
McClelland, Tedrick and two NRE relays earned medals for their efforts on a day filled with personal and season-best times.
“The girls swam almost all personal lifetime best times,” said head coach Cheri DeBeltz. “Those that did not achieve personal best were at least season-best times. We ended up getting medals in four events. This is definitely one season the girls will never forget.”
McClelland, an Ely sophomore placed seventh in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:11.01.
Her Ely classmate, Tedrick, was eighth in the 200 individual medley (2:30.32) and scored points for the Nighthawks by taking ninth in the 100 butterfly (1:09.46).
Tedrick and McClelland were also part of a pair of eighth-place NRE relays.
The duo joined Cedar Ohlhauser and Kelly Thompson on a 400 freestyle relay quartet that was eighth in 4:07.61, while Tedrick McClelland, Anna Larson and Kelly Thompson were on a 200 freestyle relay team that wound up eighth in 1:51.64
It was Esther Anderson Lauren Olson, Ohlhauser and McKenna Coughlin on an 11th-place 200 medley relay team (2:17.01).
Others with top-20 showings in the section were:
• Thompson, 18th, 50 freestyle, 28.6;
• Thompson, 18th, 100 freestyle, 1:02.83;
• McClelland, 12th, 500 freestyle, 6:08.75;
Mesabi East ran away with the team title with 426 points, with Hibbing second 321.5 and Duluth Denfeld (275) in third.
NRE was 10th with 93 points and 14 points ahead of 11th-place Chisholm.
The section meet marked the end of the season for all teams as the Minnesota State High School League has opted against holding state tournaments in all fall sports because of the pandemic.