Kennedy third among power-packed swim field

IOWA CITY – The fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls' swimming team entered the season with a lot of promise and a lot of depth.

The Cougars got a chance to see where they stood against a field that included six of the state's top 12 teams.

Freshman Kassidy Lovig won the 200-yard freestyle and helped Kennedy win a thrilling 200-yard freestyle relay as the Cougars placed third behind No. 3 Ankeny and sixth-ranked Cedar Falls at Mercer Aquatic Center.

'I thought it was really good, especially the relay,” Lovig said. 'That swim was really exciting.”

Lovig swam third in the 200 free relay group that, along with sophomores Darby Manternach and Mackinzee Macho, plus senior anchor Kirsten Siebenga, touched the wall in 1:42.22, just 13 hundredths of a second before Cedar Falls.

Lovig already had the 200 free victory in her back pocket (earned in a season-best 1:59.54), but the freshman flashed rugged durability by competing in the 200 free relay immediately after a grueling 500-yard freestyle race in which she eclipsed her season benchmark by over three-and-a-half seconds in 5:21.79.

'I think swimming the 500 before a relay helps me because it gets my adrenaline going,” Lovig said. 'So it makes me want to win and go fast on the relay again, too. I just think about how important the team is. … I think it's really important to just try my best and keep going for them.”

Two other Cougars notched season-best times as individuals. Siebenga finished second in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.47 seconds, while junior Jessica Williams snared a pair of third-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.69) and 100-yard backstroke (1:00.58).

Ankeny won the meet for the first time in over 15 years with 398 points. Cedar Falls was second with 340, led by junior Meghan Hackett, who posted the only sub-minute time in the 100-yard butterfly (59.96).

'Butterfly was good,” Hackett said. 'I was kind of actually surprised. I didn't realize I was going to go under a minute today.”

Iowa City West's Erica Hsu entered the meet seeded nearly six seconds ahead of her closest competitor in the 500 free, and did not disappoint. The steady senior broke out ahead of the field and stayed there, claiming victory in a season-best 5:15.34 after a challenging week of practice.

'It was good considering our practices this week,” Hsu said with a laugh. '(West Coach) Byron (Butler) roughed it up a little bit. … We just did a lot of aerobic sets this week that really focused on getting our heart rates up really high and try to maintain it.”

Hsu also placed second in the 200-yard individual medley for West, which finished sixth (184 points).

IOWA CITY HIGH INVITATIONAL

At Mercer Aquatic Center

Teams -

1. Ankeny 398, 2. Cedar Falls 340, 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 319, 4. Bettendorf 285, 5. West Des Moines Valley 264, 6. Iowa City West 184, 7. Muscatine 167, 8. Iowa City High 131.

200 medley relay -

1. Ankeny (Xan Westercamp. Rachel Manderscheid, Lizzie Doering, Sarah Shafer), 1:51.31; 2. Cedar Falls (Sammi Hall, Olivia Clark, Meghan Hackett, Madison Hall), 1:52.22; 3. C.R. Kennedy (Jessica Williams, Mackinzee Macho, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:53.92.

200 freestyle -

Kassidy Lovig (CRK), 1:59.54; 2. Shannon Carney (Bett), 2:00.22; 3. Nikki Ault (Ank), 2:01.22.

200-yard individual medley -

Sarah Schemmel (Musc), 2:08.64; 2. Erica Hsu (ICW), 2:12.10; 3. Alexis Beine (Bett), 2:13.91.

50 freestyle -

1. Doering (Ank), 24.66; 2. Siebenga (CRK), 25.47; 3. Reilly Shaner (WDMV), 25.49.

Diving -

1. Jaycie Klein (Musc), 507.55; 2. Lilly Seitz (WDMV), 469.15; 3. Elizabeth Davidson (WDMV), 459.80.

100 butterfly -

1. Hackett (CF), 59.96; 2. Shaner (WDMV), 1:01.24; 3. Williams (CRK), 1:01.69.

100 freestyle -

1. Schemmel (Musc), 51.79; 2. Carney (Bett), 54.91; 3. Doering (Ank), 55.02.

500 freestyle -

Hsu (ICW), 5:15.34; 2. Shea Yuran (Ank), 5:21.38; 3. Lovig (CRK), 5:21.79.

200 freestyle relay -

1. C.R. Kennedy (Darby Manternach, Macho, Lovig, Siebenga), 1:42.22; 2. Cedar Falls (Clark, S. Hall, Considine, M. Hall), 1:42.53; 3. Ankeny (Shafer, Christina Ware, Ault, Westercamp), 1:42.53.

100 backstroke -

1. Shafer (Ank), 59.79; 2. Westercamp (Ank), 1:00.54; 3. Williams (CRK), 1:00.58.

100 breaststroke -

1. Beine (Bett), 1:08.16; 2. Sage Ohlenshelen (Bett), 1:09.64; 3. Clark (CF), 1:10.64.

400 free relay -

1. Ankeny (Ault, Erin Doruska, Doering, Westercamp), 3:42.95; 2. Cedar Falls (Hackett, S. Hall, Considine, M. Hall), 3:43.30; 3. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Golden, Lovig, Williams), 3:47.35.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com