No taper needed for Cedar Falls to splash to an MVC swimming crown

DUBUQUE - Bailey Pons considers the Mississippi Valley Conference girls swimming meet just one small stepping stone on the path to much higher season-ending goals.So when Cedar Falls won the team title by 122 points Saturday at the Hempstead pool, it took her somewhat by surprise.“We came here expecting to swim our best and to maybe compete for the team championship,” said Pons, who had a hand in four victories.“Our focus is always on swimming our best at the end of the year - in regionals and at state. So we don't taper for this meet at all.”The Cedar Rapids Kennedy quartet of Carmen McCoy, Ashley Harris, Alexandra Scharmer and Kylee Von Ahsen won the 200 medley relay in 1:56.52 - just .32 seconds ahead of Linn-Mar. The Lions' Emilie Berg, who swam the second leg of that relay, recorded a time of 25.50 seconds to win the 50 freestyle. Iowa City West's Beth Eyanson won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.81.“We knew it was a possibility that we could win it, but no way did we think we'd win it by that much. It's a great accomplishment, and it's going to give us a ton of confidence when we start to cut back on our workload in a couple of weeks.”The Tigers won seven of the 11 races Saturday to pile up 382 points and turn runner-up Cedar Rapids Kennedy into an afterthought. Pons won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and swam legs on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays.Cedar Falls' Kelsey Abbas also swam on those relays in addition to winning the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Montana Clasby won the 100 breaststroke and swam on the 400 free relay. Ashlee Graham swam on both relays, and Sammy Green completed the 200 free relay.Cedar Falls has won all but one MVC girls swimming championship since joining the conference in the early 1990s. “It still means a lot to us to win this meet,” Cedar Falls Coach Dick Marcussen said. “It's always one of the things you want to accomplish during the season. It's certainly not the biggest goal, but it is an important building block for performing well at regionals and state.”By Jim Leitner Dubuque Telegraph Herald