Lions’ swimmers priming pump

MARION - With the Mississippi Valley Conference girls' swimming meet looming Saturday, Linn-Mar Coach Chad Derlein is seeing everything he wants for his team to make a run at third-ranked Cedar Falls, winners of six straight and 21 of the last 22 MVC titles.

'I think we're going to try for it,” Derlein said after the fourth-ranked Lions (7-1, 5-1 MVC) won 11 of 12 events and upended No. 8 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 103-83, last night at Linn-Mar Aquatic Center. 'I think they've got it in them.”

After a late start to her season, junior Stephanie Jenks seems to be close to full strength. She posted season-best times in winning the 200 (2:00.42) and 500 (5:24.40) freestyles.

'I feel like I'm coming back,” said Jenks, who shaved five seconds off her 500 season best. 'I feel a lot stronger now than I did at the beginning of the season.”

Jenks also had a hand in two freestyle relay wins (200 and 400) - the second with sister Jenn, who had a couple of individual wins of her own in the 100 free and 200 individual medley.

Lizzie Adams celebrated her Senior Night in style with triumphs in the 50 free (season-best 25.24) and 100 backstroke, plus a 400 free relay win with the Jenks sisters and Kelly Wingerson.

'It means a lot to me,” Adams said. 'I was really determined to go out and win all my races and I was glad to make that happen.”

Sophomore Kelsey Drake was dominant in the 100 butterfly (56.23) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.62). While neither was a season-best time, only defending state breaststroke runner-up Sydney Angell of Pleasant Valley has been faster this year.

It would have been a clean sweep for Linn-Mar had it not been disqualified in the 200 medley relay event for leaving the blocks early. A 200 freestyle relay disqualification Sept. 27 at its own invitational cost the Lions a two-point victory over Cedar Falls.

Maddie Bagby and MacKinzee Macho each had two runner-up individual finishes for Kennedy (6-2, 5-2 MVC), which was without top swimmers Sam Jacobsen and Brooke Timmerman due to illness.

Kennedy hosts the MVC meet this Saturday, with the diving portion scheduled for Thursday.

AT LINN-MAR AQUATIC CENTER

Linn-Mar 103, C.R. Kennedy 83

200 medley relay – 1. C.R. Kennedy (Jessica Williams, MacKinzee Macho, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga) 1:57.31, 2. C.R. Kennedy (Kennedy Smith, Raquel Green, Lydia Yang, Brooke Harris) 1:59.36, 3. Linn-Mar (Elizabeth Cavanah, Annmarie Abodeely, Emma Behrens, Hailey Harms) 2:01.51; 200 free – 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM) 2:00.42, 2. Maddie Bagby (CRK) 2:04.79, 3. Kelly Wingerson (LM) 2:06.48; 200 individual medley – 1. Jenn Jenks (LM) 2:15.53, 2. Macho (CRK) 2:22.75, 3. Paige Broghammer (LM) 2:24.71; 50 free – 1. Lizzie Adams (LM) 25.24, 2. Kirsten Siebenga (CRK) 25.67, 3. Darby Manternach (CRK) 25.84 ; Diving – 1. Alyssa Deuso (LM) 239.60, 2. Georgia Sanderson (LM) 220.25, 3. Jayden Lovell (CRK) 216.45; 100 butterfly – 1. Kelsey Drake (LM) 56.23, 2. Macho (CRK) 1:03.35, 3. Yang (CRK) 1:03.96; 100 free – 1. J. Jenks (LM) 53.44, 2. Bagby (CRK) 56.19, 3. Manternach (CRK) 57.41; 500 free – 1. S. Jenks (LM) 5:24.40, 2. Sarah Gannon (CRK) 5:37.00, 3. Grace Ahlers (LM) 5:48.60; 200 free relay – 1. Linn-Mar (Drake, S. Jenks, Broghammer, Wingerson) 1:42.49, 2. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Yang, Harris) 1:43.09, 3. C.R. Kennedy (Larkyn Aldrich, Green, Gannon, Williams) 1:48.18; 100 backstroke – 1. Adams (LM) 1:03.09, 2. Williams (CRK) 1:04.72, 3. Smith (CRK) 1:08.00 ; 100 breaststroke – 1. Drake (LM) 1:07.62, 2. Broghammer (LM) 1:13.33, 3. Green (CRK) 1:13.52; 400 free relay - Linn-Mar (S. Jenks, Adams, Wingerson, J. Jenks) 3:43.95, 2. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Yang, Siebenga, Bagby) 3:48.38, 3. C.R. Kennedy (Williams, Macho, Gannon, Abby Krueger) 4:05.32.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com