Linn-Mar makes every point matter to defend MVC boys’ swimming title

MARION — It came down to the final event.

Linn-Mar held a one-point lead over Cedar Falls entering the 400-yard freestyle relay at Saturday's Mississippi Valley Conference meet at the Linn-Mar Aquatics Center.

Lions Coach Ian Hoover-Grinde believed his swimmers were in the right mindset for the moment.

“I knew it would come down to a high-pressure situation,” he said. “We've been training so they could be able to handle these kinds of situations. I knew all they had to do was swim their race and we would be fine.”

The foursome of Hudson Huberg, Mason Turner, Collin Taylor, Luke Kelley was more than fine. They came in with the top seed with a narrow edge of the Cedar Falls relay unit but this race was never close.

Kelley completed the relay in style as the Lions touched in 3:10.86, well ahead of the Tigers, who finished in 3:13.89. That allowed Linn-Mar to defend its title with 364 points. Cedar Falls was second (357) while Dubuque Hempstead took third (294).

“We just tried to do everything we could to seal the win,” Kelley said. “Everybody on the team did their part. Not only was it the guys who were fast, but there were so many other guys who had great times and did their parts.”

As Kelley indicated, depth was the key to the Lion victory as they won only five of the 11 events. Sophomore Parker Macho was a double winner, taking gold in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Huberg won the 50 freestyle while Turner edged Iowa City West’s Holden Carter in the 100 backstroke.

The smile on Huberg's face told the entire story of the day for the Lions.

“Swimming is very fun,” he said. “It's fun to come out and swim in meets like this. We all just executed and did what we needed to do to get the win.”

In a close meet, every point matters and Hoover-Grinde singled out several of the efforts from others on the team.

“Carter Byers’ 100 butterfly (where he finished fifth) was really key to get us in position,” said Hoover-Grinde, the first-year Linn-Mar coach. “Zach Strait and Ryan Manning both got us some crucial points in the 100 backstroke.

“There were other guys who sometimes get overlooked, but they did their jobs. This was a true team victory.”

Four meet records were set. Iowa City High’s Joe Polyak set a pair of MVC marks in winning the 200 and 500 freestyles. Iowa City West’s Carter matched his record he set last year in the 100 butterfly. Cedar Falls’ John Butler also set a new mark in taking the 100 freestyle title.

“This was a great meet with some great races,” Huberg said. “I can't wait to do it again” (in two weeks when Linn-Mar plays host to a district meet).

Mississippi Valley Conference boys’ swimming meet

At Linn-Mar Aquatic Center

Team standings

1. Linn-Mar 364

2. Cedar Falls 357

3. Dubuque Hempstead 294

4. Iowa City West 281

5. Cedar Rapids Washington 215

6. Dubuque Senior 174

7. Iowa City High 166

8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 79

9. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 68

10. Waterloo 46

Event results

200-yard medley relay: 1. Iowa City West (Hayden Hakes, Winston Fan, Holden Carter, Max Gerke) 1:34.64, 2. Linn-Mar (Mason Turner, Parker Macho, Colin Taylor, Hudson Huberg) 1:34.65, 3. Cedar Rapids Washington (Gavin Lucas, Joe Semelroth, Andrew Seifert, Marcus Seifert) 1:39.69.

200 freestyle: 1. Joe Polyak (ICH) 1:38.30 (new MVC record), 2. John Butler (CF) 1:40.12, 3. Luke Kelley (LM) 1:43.96.

200 individual medley: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 1:52.55, 2. Hayden Hakes (ICW) 1:55.32, 3. Cole Wilson (CF) 1:56.91.

50 freestyle: 1. Hudson Huberg (LM) 21.20, 2. Max Gerke (ICW) 21.74, 3. Marcus Seifert (CRW) 21.94

100 butterfly: 1. Holden Carter (ICW) 50.50 (ties MVC meet record), 2. Logan Westhoff (DH) 54.41, 3. William Fry (DS) 54.57.

100 freestyle: 1. John Butler (CF) 45.20 (new MVC record), 2. Hudson Huberg (LM) 46.61, 3. Max Gerke 48.12

500 freestyle: 1. Joe Polyak (ICH) 4:32.89 (new MVC record), 2. Mason Turner (LM) 4:38.17, 3. Hayden Hakes (ICW) 4:39.37

200 freestyle relay: 1. Cedar Falls (Sam Weaver, Kieran DeGroote, John Butler, Cole Wilson), 1:27.08, 2. Dubuque Hempstead (Kyle Powers, Brandon Decker, Owen Leitzen, Michael Rhett Glibertson) 1:28.65, 3. Iowa City High (Phillip-Berry-Stoelze, Charlie Pfolhl, Brandon Calonder, Joe Polyak) 1:29.31

100 backstroke: 1. Mason Turner (LM) 51.95, 2. Holden Carter (ICW) 52.16, 3. William Fry (DS) 55.21

100 breaststroke: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 57.72, 2. Cole Wilson (CF) 58.85, 3. Sam Weaver (CF) 59.95

400 freestyle relay: 1. Linn-Mar (Hudson Huberg, Mason Turner, Collin Taylor, Luke Kelley) 3:10.86, 2. Cedar Falls (Kieran DeGroote, Liam McGrane, Cole Wilson, John Butler) 3:13.89 3. Iowa City West (Max Gerke, Hayden Hakes, Holden Carter, Ethan Landon) 3:14.03.

Swimmers of the Year: Mississippi Division: John Butler, Cedar Falls; Valley Division: Joe Polyak Iowa City High

Coaches of the Year: Mississippi Division, Cliff Paulsen, Cedar Falls; Valley Division: Rick Loeffelholz, Dubuque Hempstead