West rewrites MVC record book

MARION - Before the Mississippi Valley Conference boys' swimming championships, Iowa City West Coach Rob Miecznikowski challenged his guys to go after some conference records.

What West did Saturday would be more accurately termed a full-on assault of the MVC record book.

The top-ranked Trojans set or tied MVC meet records in eight of 11 events, including two individual records each from juniors Aidan Keen, Mark McGlaughlin and Will Scott, for a second-place team finish at the Linn-Mar Aquatic Center.

'They did exactly what we came in to do today,” Miecznikowski said. 'We fell short on the championship, but you can lose a few battles as long as you're focused on winning the war.”

Dubuque Senior had enough point-scoring depth toward the bottom of its lineup to win with 321 points, its second MVC crown in three seasons. West tallied 306.5 points as Keen set individual records in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.67) and the 500 (4:39.14). McGlaughlin matched the feat in the 200-yard individual medley (1:51.75) and 100-yard backstroke (50.52). All four are state-best times this season.

The breakout performance came from Scott, who reached the top of the MVC podium in an individual event for the first time with conference records in both the 50-yard freestyle (20.84) and the 100 (46.33).

'I was actually really surprised with what I swam,” the West junior said. 'It's just like, I'm in the books now. I'll be there for a while. Now I'll be that person that people look up to and don't know the name, but know that time and what they want to be.”

Scott's day seems even more remarkable given his swimming participation was pretty sporadic until he fully dedicated himself after being a West state meet alternate during his freshman season.

'After state, I walked into the (Iowa Flyers) club team and I sat down and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do,” Scott said. 'And they said, ‘Get in the water and start swimming.' And since then, I've just been swimming and swimming and swimming. And I'll continue to swim. After my freshman year, I was just like, ‘We're going to do this.'”

Scott's 6-foot-5 frame is an asset in the sprint events. It allows him a further start off the block and an earlier turn. Scott swam second - with Keen third and anchor McGlaughlin - in West's 200-yard freestyle relay record of 1:24.59.

'Will crushed today,” Miecznikowski said. 'He's been focusing on this all week.”

The West team of McGlaughlin, Keen, Matt Anderson and Oliver Martin closed the meet with an MVC-record tying 3:15.14 in the 400 free relay.

Cedar Rapids Washington placed third among the crowded leaderboard with 293 points behind runner-up performances from Nick Saulnier (200 IM), Jared Thorson (100 butterfly) and its 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.

'Great meet for our kids today,” Washington Coach Chris Cruise said. 'Our second and third-tier guys really swam very, very well.”

Senior Justin Arebaugh was second in the 50 free for host Linn-Mar, which was fourth with 274 points.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Linn-Mar

Teams – 1. Dubuque Senior 321, 2. Iowa City West 306.5, 3. Cedar Rapids Washington 293, 4. Linn-Mar 274, 5. Dubuque Hempstead 229, 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 176, 7. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 138, 8. Iowa City High 103, 9. Cedar Falls 83, 10. Waterloo West 78, 11. Waterloo East 66.5.

200 medley relay – 1. Dubuque Senior (John Colin, Andrew Breitfelder, Drake Stierman, Brandon Sindt), 1:39.35; 2. C.R. Washington (Kaleb Donels, Matt Jackson, Jared Thorson, Nick Saulnier), 1:40.06; 3. Iowa City West (Noah Bruns, Matt Anderson, Oliver Martin, Will Scott), 1:41.79. 200 free – 1. Aidan Keen (ICW), 1:41.67-*; 2. Ben Colin (DS), 1:43.78; 3. Cameron Kelley (CRW), 1:45.91. 200 individual medley – 1. Mark McGlaughlin (ICW), 1:51.75-*; 2. Nick Saulnier (CRW), 1:58.10; 3. Charles Warren (DH), 2:01.84. 50 free – 1. Scott (ICW), 20.84-*; 2. Justin Arebaugh (LM), 21.92; 3. Thorson (CRW), 21.93. 100 butterfly – 1. Oliver Martin (ICW), 52.18; 2. Jared Thorson (CRW), 52.29; 3. Matt Peng (LM), 54.78. 100 free – 1. Will Scott (ICW), 46.33-*; 2. John Colin (DS), 46.46; 3. Justin Arebaugh (LM), 48.73. 500 free – 1. Keen (ICW), 4:39.14-*; 2. B. Colin (DS), 4:43.12; 3. Kelley (CRW), 4:47.02. 200 free relay – Iowa City West (Martin, Scott, Keen, McGlaughlin), 1:24.59-*; 2. C.R. Washington (Saulnier, George Durin, Thorson, Kelley), 3. Linn-Mar (Peng, Matthew Mather, Reid Snell, Arebaugh), 1:29.90. 100 backstroke – 1. McGlaughlin (ICW), 50.52-*; 2. J. Colin (DS), 51.29; 3. Saulnier (CRW), 52.79. 100 breaststroke – 1. Charles Warren (DH), 59.96; 2. Anderson (ICW), 1:00.74; 3. Stefan Kitsos (CRK), 1:01.51. 400 free relay – 1. Iowa City West (McGlaughlin, Keen, Anderson, Martin), 3:15.14-*; 2. Dubuque Senior (B. Colin, Nick Topping, Stierman, J. Colin), 3:18.29; 3. Linn-Mar (Peng, Arebaugh, Zach Hendricks, Calvin Greve), 3:18.65.

* – MVC meet record

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