The Hastings Raiders girls swim and dive team earned a 96-87 victory over Hill-Murray on Thursday, Oct. 22, using strong performances in diving, individual events and relays to secure another Metro East Conference win.
The meet was competitive throughout, with Hill-Murray holding a nine-point advantage following the 100-yard butterfly before Hastings regained the lead. The Raiders entered the final event ahead 88-81 and secured the victory with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Hastings collected victories in seven individual events, including diving, and two relays.
The Raiders dominated the diving competition, sweeping the top three varsity positions. Chloe Aarness won the six-dive event with 224.95 points, followed by Greta Larson in second with 207.55 and Kira Fuechtmann in third with 191.05. The sweep gave Hastings 13 valuable team points.
Emma Dehmlow led the Raiders with two individual swimming victories. She won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:20.66, edging Hill-Murray's Alexis Roehrich, who finished in 2:21.28. Dehmlow also captured first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.90, more than six seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Larson added a victory in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 2:19.71. Sofia Kovalenko won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:33.04, finishing more than 44 seconds ahead of Hill-Murray's Madeline Keifer.
Lila Salzman earned another first-place finish for Hastings in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 58.48 seconds. Charlotte Latch finished fourth in the event with a time of 1:04.23.
The Raiders were especially strong in the 100-yard breaststroke, where Maddy Ritter won in 1:15.20. Salzman finished second in 1:16.60, narrowly ahead of Hill-Murray's Talia Simons, who recorded a time of 1:16.64. Emma Anderson added a fourth-place finish in 1:20.69, giving Hastings three of the top four positions.
Lily Burks contributed a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.95 seconds. She also placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:13.35, while Anderson finished fifth in that event.
The Raiders also found success in the freestyle relays. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ritter, Salzman, Larson and Kovalenko claimed first place with a time of 1:49.30. Hastings also placed third in the event, with Latch, Burks, Fuechtmann and Anderson finishing in 1:59.30.
Hill-Murray won the opening 200-yard medley relay, while Hastings took second with Dehmlow, Emery Malm, Elayna Latch and Rae Wojcik finishing in 2:23.74.
With the meet still within reach for Hill-Murray entering the final event, Hastings closed with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kovalenko, Larson, Latch and Dehmlow combined for a time of 4:03.63, comfortably ahead of Hill-Murray's second-place time of 4:17.14.
The Raiders will return to competition Saturday, Oct. 31, when they host the Hastings Diving Invite at the Hastings Middle School Pool. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.