Linn-Mar boys’ swimming climbing the ranks through stiff competition

MARION - The Linn-Mar boys' swimming team have spent their season discovering how they stack up.

With a deep roster replete with valuable experience and increased maturity, the Lions - ranked sixth in the latest quikstatsiowa.com power rankings - are undefeated in Mississippi Valley Conference duals and have claimed invitational titles at Grinnell and Clinton.

'This is one of the closest teams we've ever had before,” Linn-Mar senior distance swimmer Hogan Myers said after the Lions placed fifth among a talented multi-state field Saturday in the Linn-Mar Invitational at Linn-Mar Aquatic Center. 'We're all just one big team. Coach (Tom) Belin really stresses that (while) it is an individual sport, it is a team sport here.”

Myers posted a pair of season-best times and reached the podium in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.41) and the 500 (4:56.32). Teammate Matt Peng also posted his best time of the season in the 100 butterfly (53.40), which placed second. Earlier, Peng collected a third-place time in the 50 free (22.48).

Both are two-time state qualifiers in their respective events with eyes on climbing the state podium both individually and as a team. Linn-Mar was 14th and 17th at state over the past two seasons.

'Just seeing where our teams have had recently very good success, we'd just like to build upon that and perhaps do better this year,” Peng said.

With returners like senior Matt Mather and junior Brycen Snell, plus the emergence of freshmen Sam Peng and Nick Cavanah, the Lions have the look of a top-10 team at next month's state meet.

To prove it, the Lions have not only traveled to Wisconsin for a highly-competitive 10-team meet, but they filled their own invitational with state heavyweights like No. 9 Iowa City West, third-ranked West Des Moines Dowling and No. 2 Pleasant Valley. Two-time defending Wisconsin Division 2 state champion Monona Grove also returned.

Dowling, Pleasant Valley and Monona Grove finished 1-2-3 on Saturday, while Iowa City West received wins from freshman Izaak Hajek (200 individual medley) and junior Lane Griffis (100 breaststroke) and placed fourth overall.

'You have to find that competition,” Belin said. 'You have to find those people that are sometimes better than you. And sometimes what you find, and I think we're seeing that today, is that you end up being better than them. But if you never give yourself a chance, you never know.”

Snell placed sixth in the 200 free and fifth in the 100. Mather (50 free) and Cavanah (500 free) also reached the podium with sixth-place performances for Linn-Mar.

Hajek also added a fifth-place butterfly finish and Griffis was fourth in the 500 for West. West junior Ben Berhow was second in the breaststroke and fourth in the 200 IM.

AT LINN-MAR AQUATIC CENTER

Teams -

1. West Des Moines Dowling 456; 2. Pleasant Valley 429; 3. Monona Grove (Wis.) 420; 4. Iowa City West 350; 5. Linn-Mar 339; 6. Rock Island (Ill.) 74; 7. Clinton 58.

200 medley relay -

1. Monona Grove (Eric Storms, Ben McDade, Connor Keith, Shane Sackett), 1:37.53; 2. Pleasant Valley (Kevin Burke, Vincent Gnad, Sam Lundry, Alex Wong), 1:41.31; 3. West Des Moines Dowling (Nick Chase, Kade Johnson, Drew Westercamp, Ryan Gaumer), 1:42.17; 4. Iowa City West (Nasim Abu-Dagga, Sam Deyak, Izaak Hajek, Ethan MacAreavy), 1:44.33).

200 freestyle -

1. McDade (MG), 1:41.97; 2. Nolan Larson (Dowl), 1:44.59; 3. Lundry (PV), 1:49.10; 4. Hogan Myers (LM), 1:49.41.

200 individual medley -

1. Hajek (ICW), 2:03.61; 3. Johnson (Dowl), 2:05.32; 3. Jacob Lippiatt (MG), 2:06.48.

50 freestyle -

1. Erik Doll (MG), 22.00; 2. Sackett (MG), 22.39; 3. Matt Peng (LM), 22.48.

100 butterfly -

1. Storms (MG), 51.23; 2. M. Peng (LM), 53.40; 3. Burke (PV), 54.43.

100 freestyle -

1. Larson (Dowl), 47.69; 2. Doll (MG), 48.83; 3. McKay (PV), 49.09; 5. Brycen Snell (LM), 50.66.

500 freestyle -

1. McDade (MG), 4:34.84; 2. Lundry (PV), 4:52.96; 3. Myers (LM), 4:56.32.

200 freestyle relay -

1. Monona Grove (Lippiatt, Keith, Sackett, Doll), 1:28.80; 2. West Des Moines Dowling (Westercamp, Gaumer, Joseph Dohrmann, Larson), 1:29.34; 3. Pleasant Valley (McKay, Dylan Hartford, Wong, Burke), 1:29.34; 4. Linn-Mar (M. Peng, Snell, Mather, Myers), 1:30.09.

100 backstroke -

1. Storms (MG), 50.90; 2. Burke (PV), 55.02; 3. Chase (Dowl), 55.74; 8. Nick Cavanah (LM), 58.14.

100 breaststroke -

1. Griffis (ICW), 1:01.85; 2. Berhow (ICW), 1:02.84; 3. Wong (PV), 1:03.20.

400 freestyle relay -

1. Monona Grove (Doll, Lippiatt, Storms, McDade), 3:13.69; 2. West Des Moines Dowling (Dohrmann, Chase, Ben Nelson, Larson), 3:19.20; 3. Pleasant Valley (Lundry, Hartford, Austin Collins, McKay), 3:21.80; 4. Linn-Mar (M. Peng, Mather, Myers, Snell), 3:22.31.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com