Dylan Bruton is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Pointe High School for AZPreps365.com.

Phoenix -- The remnants of the hot Arizona sun seemed to shine extra bright on Coach Virginia Bolenbaugh and the Mountain Pointe Pride swim team at NOZOMI Park after their final home meet on Oct. 14 versus Chandler Prep and Marcos de Niza. 

It was Senior Night. Bolenbaugh and her swimmers rejoiced in what they accomplished throughout the year. This was a season that embodied perseverance, love, and honoring a proud legacy for the Pride. 

Before the 2025-2026 season, two significant instances of tragedy had a profound effect on Bolenbaugh: the deaths of previous Mountain Pointe swim coach Mona Nyheim-Canales, as well as a dear family friend, Michael Alexander, a volunteer football coach with Arizona College Preparatory High School. 

These two situations inspired Bolenbaugh to take up coaching her oldest child, Seth, and the swim team. 

“It needed to be done for the kids to have a senior year,” Bolenbaugh said. “Even on days that I’m frustrated, this has been enjoyable and refreshing, and it feeds my soul.” 

Bolenbaugh grew up swimming until high school and was a former Division II collegiate gymnast at Seattle Pacific University, graduating in 1997. Today, she is a sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department, a youth minister with a Master of Divinity from Polar Theological Seminary, the wife of John Bolenbaugh, the mother of Seth, and now the coach of the Mountain Pointe swim team. 

Initially, Bolenbaugh took the job temporarily while coach Nyheim-Canales courageously battled metastatic cancer for two years. After the beloved Nyheim-Canales’ passing on Nov. 25, 2024, Bolenbaugh stepped into the role with motivation to honor her predecessor’s legacy. 

This past season, the team honored Nyheim-Canales at her alma mater, the University of Arizona, by participating in a swim meet. Repping “Coach Mona Strong” on their backs in Sharpie while swimming, thanks to assistant coach Elise, the team had a strong cry of love to galvanize them.

For sophomore Alex Pernudi, this tribute to Nyheim-Canales held weight, as she recruited him to come to Mountain Pointe, along with her husband, Fernando Canales, a 1984 Olympic swimmer who still coaches Pernudi  on the Pitchfork Aquatics club team. 

Witnessing how Bolenbaugh has gracefully balanced her life has been an enormous influence on Pernudi.

“It shows me a blueprint on how I can succeed with band, swimming, my personal life, and academics,” Pernudi said.

Alex dreams of representing his parents’ home country, Costa Rica, in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, his original hometown.  

For senior Idyn Flores, a lifelong cheerleader and fellow gymnast like Bolenbaugh, she ended her high school career as a first-time swimmer, PRing at multiple meets thanks to Bolenbaugh. “She’s the type of coach to push you, but also know your limits,” Flores said. 

The overall theme of perseverance reigned supreme and senior captain Jacob Froberg felt it.  

“Coach would say the most important swim is the next one, don’t hold on to what already happened because there’s nothing you can do to change it, which showed me it’s all about mindset,” Froberg said. 

For Bolenbaugh herself, this hit home even more in the aftermath of the funeral of her family friend, coach Michael Alexander. 

“When I went to the funeral, I was reminded because of the way the other coaches talked about Mike and they said this was a man who was just calm and really focused on the whole person,”  Bolenbaugh said. “As a coach, you remember that you’re coaching individuals.”

No relationship on the team stood out more than with her own son, Seth,  who was a senior this year. She did not allow him to call her “Mom” during the season, so he humorously called her “Coach Meemaw,,” a name that stuck. 

She was honest that it wasn’t all roses, but it wasn’t hard, and she’s proud. Her husband, John, who is more of the quiet one unless he needs to intervene, was proud of Seth’s growth.

“Being able to watch him grow and mature and become the adult that we’re hoping he continues to grow into as he goes into his next phase of life with college has been enjoyable to watch,” John said.

For John, who has grown up and swam with Virginia his whole life, he knows firsthand how skilled she is at meeting people wherever they’re at.

Seth Bolenbaugh, son of Virginia and John Bolenbaugh. (Photo courtesy of Virginia Bolenbaugh)

 

Seth jokes that he can’t skip practice and say that he’s “sick” because his Mom will come into his room and yell at him, but he felt deeply inspired this season in being coached by her.

“I would love to be a Good Samaritan like her to others, and I’ll take the first step and learn how to help those who are leading,” Seth said. 

Coach Bolenbaugh remains eager to continue coaching but is fully supportive if Mountain Pointe finds the right permanent coach. She hopes her players remember the value of adaptation and overcoming obstacles. 

“Life does not unroll and unfold in a way that we always expect, so you got to roll with the punches,” Bolenbaugh said. “How I believe who God is affects how I believe I am and what my role is in the world. Everyone has a role to play and it’s so much bigger than what we think it is.”