By Becky Walz,
The end of the 2024 season is nearing as the Decorah girls’ swim team is posting some of its best times of the year, topping Algona in a dual Thursday and finishing fourth at the conference meet held Saturday in Grinnell.
Top efforts
Finishing Saturday with 206 points, the Vikes finished behind NCMP, Grinnell and Oskaloosa at the North Central Iowa Swim Conference meet.
While no champions were crowned, two events took silver including freshman Jenna Schissel with a time of 5:57.02 in the 500 freestyle. Bella Sailor, Liz Bucksa, Grace Baker and Schissel provided a fine effort in the 200 freestyle relay. They combined to finish second in 1:46.41.
Bucksa added a pair of individual bronze medals to her day. The sophomore posted a time of 26.05 seconds in the 50 freestyle and 1:11.19 in the 100 breaststroke.
Avalea Burns won a bronze in the 200 individual medley, stopping the clock at 2:31.30. Sailor went 1:07.13 in the 100 butterfly to finish third while Baker took bronze in the 100 freestyle in 1:00.74.
North Central Swim Conference Team scores
1. NCMP 387; 2. Grinnell 230; 3. Oskaloosa 209; 4. Decorah 206; 5. Boone 193; 6. Williamsburg 99; 7. Vinton-Shellsburg 19
Varsity race results
200 medley relay – 5. Bella Sailor, Jenna Schissel, Liz Bucksa, Grace Baker 2:02.22; 9. Lauren Holthaus, Avalea Burns, Annika Becker, Liv Anderson 2:14.22
200 free – 4. Schissel 2:14.28; 12. Reagan Lubahn 2:27.73; 16. Allia Ericksen 2:41.33
200 IM – 3. Burns 2:31.30
50 free – 3. Bucksa 26.05; 7. Baker 26.85; 13. Bridget Bentley 28.87
100 fly – 3. Sailor 1:07.13; 13. Becker 1:19.78
100 free – 3. Baker 1:00.74; 6. Bentley 1:03.57; 14. Sophia Gardner 1:09.52
500 free – 2. Schissel 5:57.02; 12. Lubahn 6:40.99; 13. McKenzie Tollefson 6:48.27
200 free relay – 2. Sailor, Bucksa, Baker, Schissel, 1:46.41; 8. Burns, Holthaus, Bentley, Anderson, 1:54.68
100 back – 6. Sailor 1:09.97; 12. Holthaus 1:15.94; 18. Adeline Bollinger 1:25.48
100 breast – 3. Bucksa 1:11.19; 4. Burns 1:14.36; 10. McKenna Demaray 1:23.86
400 free relay – 8. Anderson, Bentley, Gardner, Lubahn, 4:27.86; 10. Demaray, Tollefson, Ana Simon, Kate Pattison, 4:38.00
At Algona
Wrapping up the regular season at Algona Thursday, Oct. 24, Decorah won 106 to 70, claiming eight gold medals.
The night kicked off with Sailor, Schissel, Bucksa and Baker combining for a winning time of 2:03.19 in the 200 medley relay. That same quartet later won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:51.30.
Individually Bucksa was a two- time champion as she won both the 200 individual medley in 2:25.06 and the 100 butterfly in 1:06.23. Touching the wall first in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle race was Reagan Lubahn. She had the winning time of 2:29.86 in the shorter event and took the longer race in 6:55.43. In 27.22 seconds, Baker won the 50 freestyle.
The final event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay also took the top spot. Liv Anderson, Bridget Bentley, Lubahn and Naomi Kutz combined their talents to win in 4:27.49.
Varsity race results
200 medley relay – 1. Sailor, Schissel, Bucksa, Baker, 2:03.19; 3. Pattison, Gardner, Demaray, Tollefson, 2:26.58
200 free – 1. Lubahn 2:29.86; 3. Anderson 2:33.85; 5. Ericksen 2:44.10
200 IM – 1. Bucksa 2:25.06; 2. Naomi Kutz 2:40.88
50 free – 1. Baker 27.22; 2. Sailor 27.40; 3. Schissel 27.78
100 fly – 1. Bucksa 1:06.23; 3. Becker 1:24.71; 5. Gardner 1:32.62
100 free – 3. Baker 1:02.04; 4. Bentley 1:08.70; 5. Simon 1:10.46
500 free – 1. Lubahn 6:55.43; 4. Erickson 7:28.45; 5. Margaret Hahn 7:57.64
200 free relay – 1. Sailor, Baker, Schissel, Bucksa, 1:51.30; 3. Anderson, Kutz, Becker, Bentley, 2:06.81
100 back – 2. Schissel 1:13.92; 4. Anderson 1:24.60; 5. Adeline Bollinger 1:31.26
100 breast – 2. Kutz 1:24.12; 3. Sailor 1:26.49; 4. Demaray 1:28.67
400 free relay – 1. Anderson, Bentley, Lubahn, Kutz, 4:27.49; 2. Tollefson, Simon, Ericksen, Bollinger, 4:41.28
JV race results
200 medley relay – 1. Esme Cuevas, Becker, Addison Lickiss, Molly Kuehner, 2:31.85
200 free – 1. Cuevas 2:58.61; 2. Stella Pole 3:01.46
50 free – 1. Bentley 30.37; 2. Demaray 30.83; 3. Simon 31.73; 4. Bollinger 31.99; 6. Jena Peters 32.24; 7. Pattison 32.61; 8. Kuehner 32.69; 11. Kinley Leliefield 36.18; 12. Hahn 38.04
100 fly – 1. Tollefson 1:27.29
100 free – 3. Lickiss 1:15.19; 4. Kuehner 1:16.40; 5. Pole 1:18.78; 6. Leliefield 1:20.13
200 free relay – 1. Pole, Simon, Tollefson, Ericksen, 2:12.29; 2. Demaray, Gardner, Cuevas, Peters, 2:15.40
100 back – 1. Peters 1:28.64; 2. Pattison 1:32.85
100 breast – 1. Gardner 1:25.88
400 free relay – 1. Kuehner, Leliefield, Pattison, Becker, 5:14.39; 2. Pole, Lickiss, Cuevas, Hahn, 5:27.10
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.