Strong off the blocks

CEDAR RAPIDS – It wasn't until after winter break that Cedar Rapids Kennedy found a 200-yard medley relay combination it liked.

Kennedy Coach Shawn Thomsen unveiled the lineup of Brennan Urbi, Stefan Kitsos, Cade Schoenauer and Brady Gibson on Jan. 6 against Cedar Rapids Washington, and the foursome performed within a couple of seconds of the Kennedy school record (1:39.90) and cracked the state's top-10 list.

'That really got us pumped and riled for how we're going to end the year out,” said Urbi, who leads Kennedy into its dual at Iowa City High Tuesday at 6. 'Then we saw the top 10 in the state - I think that was a huge confidence boost for us.”

Juniors Urbi and Kitsos possess the bulk of the Cougars state-meet experience. Urbi reached the 50-yard freestyle podium with a top-5 finish in 21.64 seconds last season, and Kitsos is a two-time state qualifier in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Urbi also placed ninth in the 100-yard backstroke last season.

'They've definitely set a benchmark for us,” Thomsen said. 'They've really embraced bringing everybody along. Trying to raise that level of commitment from everybody.”

Thomsen continues to search for that third spot in the lineup behind Urbi and Kitsos with a goal of cracking the top 10 at next month's state meet. Kennedy finished 12th and 18th in the team standings over the past two seasons, but Urbi believes this is the strongest team in his three seasons thanks to a better start.

'We were really hardworking and focused,” Urbi said. 'But I think this year we just took a whole other step in how determined we want to be and we came together as a team. (We) really thought about the long-term goal at the end of the season.”

For Urbi, that includes another crack at the dicey 50 free, where the competition is so bunched together a half-second difference could mean five or six slots in the standings.

'I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot,” Urbi said. 'I'm a couple tenths-of-a-second faster than I was at this time last year, so that's been looking pretty good for me.”

JEFF RESTED, READY

By the time Saturday's Mississippi Valley Conference boys' swimming championships arrive, it will have been nine days since Cedar Rapids Jefferson last competed. The gap in the schedule is the result of Coach Ryan York dropping a dual meet in favor of an extra Saturday invitational on Jan. 3. at Des Moines East. The decision bore significant fruit for the J-Hawks, who prevailed over a group of five western Iowa teams.

'We get up and race every in practice,” York said of managing the layoff. 'So nothing's really different from what a meet would do. Competition between someone you don't know versus team members - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.”

The J-Hawks are led by breaststroker Paul Hummell and distance swimmer Max McChesney, who have notched several wins this season - McChesney in the 200 and the 500 freestyle, Hummell in the 100 breaststroke and 100 free. York credits the pair's flexibility and endurance with helping counter a Jefferson roster that boasts less than 20 swimmers.

'They know that they got any race that I need them in, they're going to swim,” York said. 'So they're willing to next man up, stand in and go. That's been really big for us in a lot of places to be able to be helpful to try to fight and win every point we can. That's kind of been the point of our season, is we're not the biggest team, but we're going to fight every race, every time, every day.”

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com