It was close from the beginning and came down to the last race. Caledonia took first place in the majority of the events, while the Lady Rangers placed consecutively (2nd, 3rd, 4th). Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough of an effort by FHC, resulting in a narrow loss to the Lady Vikings of Caledonia, 98-87.
The Lady Rangers started the meet strong with the A medley relay, comprised of junior Maggie Holt, freshman Natalie Holt, freshman Lola Lipke, and freshman Ciana Fors, placing second with a time of 2:03.27. The B relay placed fourth with a time of 2:21.25.
In the next two events, the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley, top times were recorded by junior Allison Meny (2:23.74 IM), seniors Kayla Quach (2:15.36 Free) and Nora Magers (2:18.59 Free), and Holt (2:26.08 IM).
In the 200 free, the Rangers excelled as Quach finished second, Magers took third, and sophomore Avery Lajoie placed fourth.
In the 200 individual medley, Meny placed first, Holt took second, and junior Mady Scarlato secured fourth, giving the Lady Rangers their second consecutive win in an event.
“I think it’s really important to try to take second, third, and so on, especially when the other team doesn’t have much depth,” Holt said. “Taking places after first could end up giving us more points in the end.”
Luckily for the Rangers, that is exactly what happened.
However, in the last race before the diving break, the 50-yard freestyle, the Rangers began to lose their momentum. Caledonia placed first, third, and fourth. Fors placed second, sophomore Ellie Palmer placed fifth, and Holt placed sixth. Although the Rangers did not win the event, they were only two points shy of Caledonia.
The second half of the meet unfolded similarly to the first half. Caledonia continued to dominate, placing first in the last seven events, while FHC scored second, third, and fourth.
The meet became particularly interesting during the final event. FHC had a chance to tie the Vikings if their A and B 400-yard freestyle relays placed first and second.
“Going into the 4×100 relay, I was super stressed,” Magers said. “Our coaches decided last minute to change up the relays to try and even the score, but it didn’t end up working. I was still proud of what we accomplished during that event, though.”
Even though FHC didn’t win, it was still a strong performance. They had two swimmers achieve MISCA cuts (Magers and Meny) and one swimmer achieve a state cut (Meny). It’s important not to dwell on this meet too closely, as the season is still early.
Ultimately, this meet should be marked as a success in FHC’s scorebook. They lost by a mere eleven points and put up a great fight against Caledonia.
Head Coach Dennis Neat praised his team and is optimistic about the rest of the season.
“Racing at your best is never easy. It’s challenging, and learning how to do it is part of the process. The team is starting to understand what they need to do to improve the next time they swim in a particular race. Every year is different, and we are learning how to be a better team.”
