Cougars roll through regional

MARION – Cedar Rapids Kennedy got off to a rousing start, then just kept piling up the school records.

The seventh-ranked Cougars claimed seven of 11 events, set five school records and won a girls' swimming regional meet for the third year in a row Saturday at the Linn-Mar Aquatic Center.

'It was a great effort, team effort,” Kennedy Coach John Ross said. 'Top to bottom, relays were solid. Today was good. The idea is to make next week better.”

The 24 best times across the state's six regional meets qualify for the state meet Nov. 7 in Marshalltown.

With 469 points, the Cougars easily distanced themselves from Cedar Rapids Washington (300.50). The 200-yard medley relay team of Jessica Williams, Mackinzee Macho, Taylor Golden and Kirsten Siebenga opened the meet with a blistering victory in 1:48.45, the first of five school records.

'It feels better to be with your team as you're competing,” Williams said. 'Everyone gets so excited. The electricity goes around and it's ecstatic.”

Williams also claimed an individual school record with her first sub-minute time of the season in the 100-yard backstroke, winning in 58.17. Teammate Maddie Bagby won the 100-yard freestyle in 53.17, eclipsing her own school record from last season.

'We've done the work,” Bagby said. 'Now we can reap the benefits of doing the work.”

Bagby's blistering 23.51-second split helped secure another school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay along with Manternach, freshman Kassidy Lovig and Siebenga.

Sophomores Mackinzee Macho and Darby Manternach nearly made it seven Cougars' school records. Macho won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.73, while Manternach – limited during the Mississippi Valley Conference meet two weeks ago due to illness – was six hundredths of second short of the Kennedy 50-yard freestyle benchmark with a victory in 24.42 seconds.

Macho ‘s runner-up performance of 2:10.65 in the 200-yard individual medley was also a school record, but not enough to catch Iowa City West standout Erica Hsu. The senior posted a pair of season-best times with victories in the IM (2:06.93) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:06.82).

'I was not expecting to go that fast,” Hsu said with a laugh. 'My muscles were really tired and I felt like I wasn't moving, but I guess I was.”

West finished third overall in the team standings with 281.50 points. Washington sophomore Lauren Havertape was a winner in the 100-yard butterfly for the runner-up Warriors.

In the 10-team field, Decorah was fourth overall with 250 points. Sixth place went to host Linn-Mar (217), while Cedar Rapids Jefferson was seventh.

IGHSAU REGIONALS

At Linn-Mar

Teams -

1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 469, 2. Cedar Rapids Washington 300.5, 3. Iowa City West 281.5, 4. Decorah 250, 5. Dubuque Wahlert 245, 6. Linn-Mar 217, 7. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 168, 8. Dubuque Hempstead 150, 9. Tipton 58, 10. Keokuk 28.

200 medley relay -

1. C.R. Kennedy (Jessica Williams, Mackinzee Macho, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:48.45; 2. Iowa City West (Erica Hsu, Rachel Ding, Elaina Martz, Alleyna Thomas), 1:52.10; 3. Dubuque Wahlert (Carlie Noel, Adrianna Schroeder, Abbie Montag, Elly Kalb), 1:52.67.

200 free -

1. Kalb (DW), 1:57.02; 2. Kassidy Lovig (CRK), 1:57.10; 3. Maddie Bagby (CRK), 1:58.99.

200 IM -

1. E. Hsu (ICW), 2:06.93; 2. Macho (CRK), 2:10.65; 3. Megan Schill (DH), 2:12.81.

50 free -

1. Darby Manternach (CRK), 24.42; 2. Siebenga (CRK), 24.48; 3. Lauren Havertape (CRW), 24.68.

100 butterfly -

1. Havertape (CRW), 58.14; 2. Montag (DW), 59.17; 3. Schill (DH), 1:00.34.

100 free -

1. Bagby (CRK), 53.17; 2. Manternach (CRK), 54.01; 3. Kalb (DW), 54.22.

500 free -

1. E. Hsu (ICW), 5:06.82; 2. Jenny Hughes (CRW), 5:14.19; 3. Montag (DW), 5:18.36.

200 free relay -

1. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Lovig, Siebenga), 1:37.97; 2. Dubuque Wahlert (Noel, Montag, Natalia Verastegui, Kalb), 1:40.49; 3. Decorah (Madelyn Jermier, Katie Hagensick, Amelia Folkedahl, Katelyn Yee), 1:40.84.

100 back -

1. Williams (CRK), 58.17; 2. Kennedy Smith (CRK), 1:01.90; 3. Alison Hsu (CRK), 1:02.53.

100 breaststroke -

1. Macho (CRK), 1:07.73; 2. Hughes (CRW), 1:09.31; 3. Logan Eckhardt (CRW), 1:09.90.

400 free relay -

1. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Lovig, Lydia Yang), 3:37.50; 2. Iowa City West (E. Hsu, Martz, Ariel Roghair, A. Hsu), 3:38.95; 3. Decorah (Yee, Hagensick, Folkedahl, Jermier).

2015 IGHSAU State Meet

QUALIFIERS

(Area Only)

200 medley relay - 4. C.R. Kennedy (Jessica Williams, Mackinzee Macho, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:48.45; 11. Iowa City West (Erica Hsu, Rachel Ding, Elaina Martz, Alleyna Thomas), 1:52.10; 15. Iowa City High (Alayna McCafferty, Laura Lorenger, Alix Sharp, Devan O'Rourke), 1:52.81; 19. C.R. Washington (Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Emily Nelson, Logan Eckhardt), 1:53.70; 22. C.R. Jefferson (Jaylee Chung, Mika McChesney, Josie Thompson, Taylor Langel), 1:54.37; 24. Decorah (Mason Jermeier, Kelsey Maher, Katelyn Yee, Amelia Folkedahl), 1:54.44; 200 free - 13. Kassidy Lovig (C.R. Kennedy), 1:57.10; 21. Maddie Bagby (C.R. Kennedy), 1:58.99); 200 IM - 2. E. Hsu (Iowa City West), 2:06.93; 7. Macho (C.R. Kennedy), 2:10.65; 15. Sharp (Iowa City High), 2:14.46; 17. Alison Hsu (Iowa City West), 2:16.56; 20. Paige Broghammer (Linn-Mar), 2:16.94; 21. Nelson (C.R. Washington), 2:17.08; 23. Golden (C.R. Kennedy), 2:17.80; 50 free - 10. Darby Manternach (C.R. Kennedy), 24.42; 11. Siebenga (C.R. Kennedy), 24.48; 18. Lauren Havertape (C.R. Washington), 24.68; 24. McChesney (C.R. Jefferson), 25.00; 100 butterfly - 6. Havertape (C.R. Washington), 58.14; 19. Thompson (C.R. Jefferson), 1:00.66; 20. Jessica Williams (C.R. Kennedy), 1:00.78; 24. Arabella Shepard (Vinton-Shellsburg), 1:00.97; 100 free - 5. Bagby (C.R. Kennedy), 53.17; 13. Manternach (C.R. Kennedy), 54.01; 21. Madelyn Jermeier (Decorah), 54.56; 500 free - 4. E. Hsu (Iowa City West), 5:06.82; 9. Jenny Hughes (C.R. Washington), 5:14.19; 15. Sarah Gannon (C.R. Kennedy), 5:20.25; 17. Lovig (C.R. Kennedy), 5:20.68; 21. Thomas (Iowa City West), 5:22.67; 22. Emily Nelson (C.R. Washington), 5:23.03; 200 free relay - 3. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Lovig, Siebenga), 1:37.97; 16. Decorah (Madelyn Hermier, Katie Hagensick, Folkedahl, Yee), 1:40.84; 18. Iowa City West (Martz, Ariel Roghair, A. Hsu., Thomas), 1:40.98; 19. C.R. Washington (Eckhardt, Nemickas, Hughes, Havertape), 1:41.49; 100 back - 5. Williams (C.R. Kennedy), 58.17; 8. Shepard (Vinton-Shellsburg), 59.29; 15. Alayna McCafferty (Iowa City High), 1:00.66; 100 breaststroke - 6. Macho (C.R. Kennedy), 1:07.73; 13. Laura Lorenger (Iowa City High), 1:09.01; 16. Hughes (C.R. Washington), 1:09.31; 19. Eckhardt (C.R. Washington), 1:09.90; 22. Sievers (C.R. Washington), 1:10.26; 400 free relay -

8. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Lovig, Lydia Yang), 3:37.50; 10. Iowa City West (E. Hsu, Martz, Roghair, A. Hsu.), 3:38.95; 19. Decorah (Yee, Hagensick, Folkedahl, Mad. Jermeier), 3:44.00; Diving - 10. Jayden Lovell (C.R. Kennedy), 390.60; 11. Andrea Adam (Iowa City High), 390.50; 21. Brooklyn Corey (Linn-Mar), 361.05; 22. Katie Culver (Linn-Mar), 360.15; 23. Skylar Meyers (C.R. Jefferson), 354.45; 27. Amara Taylor (C.R. Washington), 349.20

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