REGIONAL — The Northeast Range/Ely Nighthawks wrapped up their season at the Section 7A swim meet held last Thursday and Saturday at Lincoln Park Middle School in Duluth. The meet, hosted by Duluth East High School, drew a tough field of 12 teams, and while the Nighthawks turned in steady swims across the board, no one advanced to state. The team finished tenth overall.
The standout performance of the meet came in the 500-yard freestyle, where Via DeBeltz raced to a seventh-place finish in 5:55.77. It was the top individual result for the Nighthawks and a strong close to the senior’s season.
“This was a good year for all of our swimmers,” Head Coach Cheri DeBeltz said. “This was overall a very young and inexperienced team. A lot of the girls have stepped up at the big invitationals and gained a lot of confidence and experience in and out of the pool.”
DeBeltz was equally proud of the team’s performance in the classroom.
“Our team was recognized with a Gold Academic award at sections and also had the highest team GPA average of 3.97,” she said. “We are very proud of the students these girls are and the amazing dedication they show with their schoolwork along with a challenging swim schedule.”

Finals results
• 200 medley relay: 9th, 2:15.13, Tuuli Koivisto, Via DeBeltz, Ivy Ohlhauser, Lucy Luthens
• 200 freestyle: DeBeltz, 11th, 2:13.80; Jorden Borchert, 16th, 2:19.67
• 500 freestyle: DeBeltz, 7th, 5:55.77
• 200 freestyle relay: 10th, 1:56.57, J. Borchert, Raegan Borchert, Lindsay Israel, Luthens
• 100 backstroke: Koivisto, 15th, 1:13.51
• 400 freestyle relay: 10th, 4:17.60, DeBeltz, Koivisto, R. Borchert, Luthens