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PREP SWIMMING: Marshall’s Nyssa Bentz signs National Letter of Intent to swim at the University of Incarnate Word

Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Nyssa Bentz poses for a photo with her family and coaches after signing her National Letter of Intent on Thursday to compete in swimming at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

MARSHALL — With a quick scribble of the pen, Nyssa Bentz’s next step to her athletic career was complete. The Marshall senior signed her National Letter of Intent on Thursday to compete in swimming at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Bentz said it’s a nice feeling to finally have this day come and is excited for the next chapter.

“It feels great,” Bentz said. “Coming into the high school swim team and starting swimming in second grade, I never thought I would get to this point in my life, it just seemed so far away but it really came quickly. I’m so happy with my decision and I’m excited.”

Bentz said she knew that she wanted to look at schools outside of Minnesota and looked South to Texas, where she added she has family down there and was happy to find a place that fit her criteria. She also said she’s thinking about going into STEM for a major.

“I had been looking around and wanted to get out of Minnesota because I wanted to branch out, go explore and live my life. I have a lot of family in Texas so it’s nice to be going there and I love it there,” Bentz said. “I was just going on websites and finding colleges and I found UIW and I thought ‘Oh, that’s expensive’, but everything really worked out. It’s so wonderful how it worked out.”

The past few seasons, Bentz has helped lead the way for the Tigers in the pool, reaching the state meet four years in a row, including placing second in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard freestyle last fall.

Bentz said her coaches have done everything for her and she’s incredibly grateful for the sacrifices they’ve made to help her get to where she’s at today.

“My coaches are everything to me. They have done absolutely everything to get me to this point and I’m so grateful for them and for what they’ve done for me,” Bentz said. “All of the swim meets they’ve stayed at for me, all of the extra hours they’ve put in, the early mornings and the late nights; I can’t express how grateful I am for them.”

Bentz added her teammates have also had a tremendous impact on her and she’s excited to continue to watch them succeed in the future.

“I could not forget my teammates. I recently had probably one of my last swim meets with a couple of my teammates and I just looked back and thought about how different it’s going to be without them by my side at swim meets. They lift me up, they’re incredible people and they deserve to be just as happy as I am with my decision,” Bentz said. “I’m excited for them and their next year and the year after and the year after that, I’m so happy for them and I hope they’re happy for me and I’m grateful for everything they’ve done for me.”

Next year, Bentz will join a UIW team that is coming off a regular season that saw multiple meet victories and a third-place finish at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championships on Feb. 22. The Cardinals will compete next in the NCAA Championship zone meet on Monday-Wednesday in Dallas.

Bentz said she’s looking forward to the new experiences that college swimming will bring, from the competition to the friendships made.

“I’m really just excited to try it out. It’s such a new experience to swim in college, but I have friends who swam in college and they said, ‘You’re going to love it.’ and I believe them,” Bentz said. “They always say that you are going to have a great time and you are going to make lasting friendships and relationships with people that you’ll forever be grateful for and love in your life and I’m excited for that and the opportunity is great.”

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