Dehydration, near-disqualification can’t keep Linn-Mar out of top five

MARSHALLTOWN - Linn-Mar earned its first top-five finish at the girls' state swimming meet since 1998, but not without a few interesting hurdles.

Sophomore Kelsey Drake won 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly titles, and anchored a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as the Lions equaled their highest state placing Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA.

'Overall, it's been a good day,” Drake said. 'Our relays swam well, and I think we're all very happy with the outcome.”

Pleasant Valley overcame a disqualification in the 200 medley relay to win the team title with 301 points, edging four-time defending state champion Ames by eight. Linn-Mar's last top-five finish was in Coach Chad Derlein's first season.

Before the final heat of the 200 freestyle, Linn-Mar sophomore Jenn Jenks was called from the blocks by meet officials for violating a rule prohibiting more than one visible logo on a swimsuit.

'The official said that I couldn't swim,” Jenks said. 'He said I could either change, but changing would require me holding up the meet, and that would result in a disqualification as well.”

Derlein sprang into action, producing a black sharpie and scribbling over the logo before jumping to his feet and, with his hands on Jenks' face, delivering a clear message.

'You got this,” Derlein recalled. 'This suit means nothing; go get this.”

Jenks shook off the near-disqualification and produced a gutsy runner-up finish in 1:51.96, a season-best time. Jenks added another silver in the 100 freestyle.

'I am really happy with the 200 especially,” Jenks said. 'I did way better at this state meet than last year for sure.”

Drake's first state championship came in an edge-of-your-seat finish in the 200 IM. She used compact, quick turns to edge Arkansas commit Sydney Angell of Pleasant Valley by five-hundredths of a second in 2:02.05.

'I definitely saw her,” Drake said. 'I saw her on my turn and I was dead. I was dead, and my legs hurt so bad. I was just thinking, ‘I've got to push through it, I really want to win.' At the end, I just put my head down and went for it.”

After the race, Drake experienced dizziness and later said she was dehydrated. She tried to shake it off with a few practice laps but said she wasn't quite right for the 100 butterfly, her signature event.

'Definitely not at full potential for that race,” Drake said. 'I still did really good.”

Drake shook off dehydration headaches and defeated Samantha Hedrick of Newton by a full second-and-a-half in 54.79 seconds. Only her state-record 54.51 in last week's regional meet has been better.

Jenks and Drake closed the day for Linn-Mar by winning bronze in the 400 free relay with Stephanie Jenks and Lizzie Adams.

Iowa City West junior Erica Hsu placed fourth in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 IM.

'I wanted to break the school record (in the 200 IM),” Hsu said. 'But how it turned out was really good. I'm happy about that.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Sam Jacobsen closed a decorated career with three top-nine finishes (200 medley relay, 100 backstroke, 200 free relay).

'It was crazy,” Jacobsen said. 'I can't believe it's over, but I'm glad with the way things went. It really couldn't have gone better, and I'm happy with my top-10 finishes. It felt good.”

The 200 medley relay team of Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Lauren Havertape and Logan Eckhardt finished seventh for Cedar Rapids Washington.

IGHSAU STATE MEET

At Marshalltown

(Top 6/Top 16 area)

Teams - 1. Pleasant Valley 301, 2. Ames 293, 3. Cedar Falls 170, 4. WDM Valley 159, 5. Linn-Mar 156, 6. Johnston 142, 7. Waukee 134, 8. Bettendorf 111, 9. SE Polk 99, 10. Ankeny 87, 11. Muscatine 86, 12. Mason City 84, 13. Newton 78, 14. Spencer 70, 15. Iowa City West 62, 16. C.R. Kennedy 51, 17. Des Moines Roosevelt 39, 18. Lewis Central 37, 19. (tie) C.R. Washington and Atlantic 27, 21. WDM Dowling 23, 21. Des Moines North 23, 23. Fairfield 16, 24. Sioux City North 9, 25. Dubuque Senior 8, 26. Williamsburg 6, 27. (tie) Davenport North and Storm Lake 5, 29. Dubuque Wahlert 4, 30. (tie) Boone and Waterloo West 3, 32. (tie) Indianola, Des Moines Abe Lincoln and Marshalltown 2, 35. Davenport West 1

200 medley relay - 1. Waukee 1:46.57; 2. Cedar Falls 1:46.83; 3. Ames 1:46.90; 4. Ankeny 1:48.88; 5. Johnston 1:49.35; 6. Muscatine 1:49.66; 7. C.R. Washington 1:50.14; 9. C.R. Kennedy 1:50.46; 16. Iowa City West 1:53.81

200 free - 1. Allyssa Fluit (SEP), 1:47.14*; 2. Jenn Jenks (LM), 1:51.96; 3. Brittany Moffatt (CF) 1:52.07; 4. Evan Hundley (PV) 1:52.12; 5. Morgan Rosser (Ames), 1:52.52; 6. Moriah Moore (WDMV), 1:54.15

200 IM - 1. Kelsey Drake (LM), 2:02.05; 2. Sydney Angell (PV), 2:02.10; 3. Nicole Oppel (PV), 2:07.77; 4. Lexi Horner (John), 2:08.53; 5. Grace Snyder (Ames), 2:10.04; 6. Erica Hsu (ICW), 2:10.07; 14. Sarah Ritchie (ICW), 2:14.41;

50 free - 1. Maddie Gehrke (Waukee), 22.51*; 2. Sophie Sorenson (Ames), 23.11; 3. Crystal Florman (MC), 23.16; 4. MyKenzie Leehy (LCen), 23.44; 5. Taylor Sieperda (Spencer), 23.60; 6. Sarah Schemmel (Mus), 23.64

100 fly - 1. Kelsey Drake (LM), 54.79; 2. Samantha Hedrick (NCMP), 56.09; 3. Crystal Florman (MC), 56.18; 4. Nicole Oppel (PV), 56.47; 5. Ali Staver (PV), 56.59; 6. Hannah Scotton (NCMP), 56.80

100 free - 1. MyKenzie Leehy (LCen), 50.40*; 2. Jenn Jenks (LM), 52.04; 3. Evan Hundley (PV), 52.08; 4. Lauren Ramirez (Bett), 52.51; 5. Moriah Moore (WDMV), 52.64; 6. Shannon Carney (Bett), 52.99; 16. Maddie Bagby (CRK), 54.67

500 free - 1. Allyssa Fluit (SEP), 4:50.27*; 2. Morgan Rosser (Ames), 5:02.26; 3. Brittany Moffatt (CF), 5:02.69; 4. Erica Hsu (ICW), 5:06.71; 5. Kaitlyn Housenga (PV), 5:07.66; 6. Natalie Lammers (John), 5:08.34; 14. Emily Nelson (CRW), 5:20.66; 16. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 5:21.46

200 free relay - 1. Pleasant Valley 1:35.96; 2. WDM Valley 1:36.73; 3. Waukee 1:36.74; 4. Ames 1:37.22; 5. Cedar Falls 1:37.30; 6. Linn-Mar 1:37.78; 9. C.R. Kennedy 1:38.25

100 backstroke - 1. Maddie Gehrke (Waukee), 54.83*; 2. Jazlyn Horras (Ames), 56.29; 3. Sophie Sorenson (Ames), 56.82; 4. Katie Sailer (Ames), 57.04; 5. Taylor Sieperda (Spencer), 57.33; 6. Ali Staver (PV), 58.10; 13. Jessica Williams (CRK), 1:00.40

100 breaststroke - 1 Sydney Angell (PV), 1:02.85; 2 Moriah Ross (DMN), 1:05.90; 3 Natalie Galluzzo (DMR), 1:06.12; 4 Rachel Manderscheid (Ankeny), 1:07.16; 5 Lexie Winnett (John), 1:07.85; 6 Jenna Cornick (MC), 1:07.93

400 free relay - 1. WDM Valley 3:31.10; 2. Pleasant Valley 3:32.69 34; 3. Linn-Mar 3:32.94 32; 4. Ames 3:33.07 30; 5. Cedar Falls 3:34.01 28; 6. SE Polk 3:35.46

*-State record

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com