Iowa boys’ state swimming preview: Linn-Mar looks to top last year’s 6th-place finish

IOWA CITY — Linn-Mar’s Hudson Huberg said this is the “fun” part of the high school boys’ swimming season.

The Lion sophomore was talking about the four-week stretch that begins with the conference meets in mid-January and concludes this weekend with the state meet.

“Our coach (Ian Hoover-Grinde) has prepared us very well for this,” Huberg said. “This is the time of year where the hard work pays off.”

The Lions, fresh off a big win at last week's district meet, enter the state meet at No. 4 in the power rankings. Defending champion Waukee is ranked first, just ahead of West Des Moines Valley and Bettendorf.

Those three schools are expected to battle it out for the team title at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.

Preliminaries in the individual events will be held Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. with the consolation and championship finals set for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. KCRG 9.2 will provide live coverage of both the preliminaries and finals.

The Lions finished sixth in last year’s meet and have the potential to top that result.

“I'm very excited for what they can do (at state),” Hoover-Grinde said following the district meet. “I think they all can swim at or even a little above their potential.”

Linn-Mar should score well in several events. Sophomore Parker Macho has the top qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly (49.64) and is second in the 100 breaststroke (56.91). Huberg, who finished third at state as a freshman in both the 50 and 100 freestyles, is again among the top qualifiers in those events. He is seeded third in the 50 free (20.99) and fourth in the 100 free (46.25).

Seniors Luke Kelley and Mason Turner are 4-5 in the 500 freestyle as well.

Hoover-Grinde said he sought some guidance on how to place his athletes for his first state meet as a head coach.

“I had a few in my close circle that I leaned on and bounced ideas off of before the district meet,” he said. “I was looking at how to score the most points at districts and have those points roll over into the state meet.”

Iowa City High senior Joe Polyak will be looking to defend his title in the 200 individual medley. He pulled away in the final leg last season to win in 1:48.94. He is the top seed in this year's race with a seed time of 1:53.08.

Polyak was the state runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 2023, finishing in 55.44. His seed time of 57.52 is fourth entering this year's meet.

Iowa City West is fifth in the team power rankings and has the top qualifying time in the 200 medley relay at 1:33.64. Junior Holden Carter is seeded second behind Macho in the 100 butterfly while senior Max Gerke is fourth in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 butterfly.

Cedar Rapids Washington will be looking to build on a strong district performance. Marcus Seifert outouched Huberg to win the 50 free in 20.80 and is seeded second in that event. He also is seeded fifth in the 100 free. Seifert’s brother, Andrew, is seeded third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 IM.

“I believe our (district) performance will carry over to the state meet,” said Warriors Coach Matt Sinnott. “They are ready to compete for each other as one unit, one team and I am really looking forward to the meet.”

Iowa high school boys’ state swimming qualifiers

(Top seed and Gazette area qualifiers)

200-yard medley relay: 1. Iowa City West 1:33.64; 4. Linn-Mar 1:34.32; 5. Cedar Rapids Washington 1:35.24; 15. Decorah 1:41.00 ; 20. Iowa City High 1:42.97; 21. Vinton-Shellsburg 1:43.13; 24. CR Kennedy 1:43.62.

200 Para freestyle: 1 Nathaniel Crow (Williamsburg) 3:51.17.

200 freestyle: 1. Jacob Pins (WDM Valley) 1:39.70; 5. Luke Kelley (LM) 1:41.01; 13. Peter Wittnebel (CR Wash) 1:45.91, 26. Owen Sieren (LM) 1:47.83; 32. Braydon Calonder (IC High) 1:49.63.

200 individual medley: 1. Joe Polyak (IC High) 1:53.05; 4. Andrew Seifert (CR Wash) 1:54.27; 14. Winston Fan (IC West) 1:58.32; 20. Connor Schaffel (LM) 2:01.34; 24. Philip Berry-Stoelzle (IC High) 2:01.95.

50 para freestyle: 1. Isaiah Picard (Indianola) 43.28; 2. James Duncan (W'burg) 53.76

50 freestyle: 1. Finn Martin (Newton) 20.73; 2. Marcus Seifert (CR Wash) 20.80; 3. Hudson Huberg (LM) 20.99; 4. Max Gerke (IC West) 21.10

100 butterfly: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 49.64; 2. Holden Carter (IC West) 50.03; 5. Max Gerke (IC West) 50.60; 27. Carter Byers (LM) 54.31

100 freestyle: 1. Owen Chiles (PV) 44.26; 4. Hudson Huberg (LM) 46.25; 5. Marcus Seifert (CR Wash) 46.73; 20. Colin Taylor (LM) 48.61; 30. Philip Berry-Stoelzle (IC High) 49.22.

100 para freestyle: 1. Jaiden Lovelace (SC West) 1:30.58; 3. James Duncan (W'burg) 2:16.48

500 freestyle: 1. Will Gorman (PV) 4:36.14; 4. Mason Turner (LM) 4:39.67; 5. Luke Kelley (LM) 4:42.58; 7. Hayden Hakes (IC West) 4:44.03; 12. Connor Schaffel (LM) 4:50.40; 20. Peter Wittnebel (CR Wash) 4:56.65; 30. Sheppard West (CR Jeff) 5:01.72

200 freestyle relay: 1. Pleasant Valley 1:24.31; 10. Linn-Mar 1:27.81; 12. Iowa City High 1:28.81; 13. Cedar Rapids Washington 1:29.15; 16. Iowa City West 1:30.04; 18. Decorah 1:30.58.

100 para backstroke: 1. Jaiden Lovelace (SC West) 1:37.83; 2. Nathaniel Crow (W'burg) 2:02.80

100 backstroke: 1. Owen Chiles (PV) 47.97; 8. Holden Carter (IC West) 52.66; 13. Mason Turner (LM) 53.29; 15. Gavin Lucas (CR Wash) 54.01; 26. Oliver Mikulski (IC West) 55.62; 29. Isaac Knaack (Decorah) 55.87.

100 breaststroke: 1. Klein Brock (Waukee) 56.77; 2. Parker Macho (LM) 56.91; 3. Andrew Seifert (CR Wash) 57.20; 5. Joe Polyak (IC High) 57.52; 10. Winston Fan (IC West) 58.40; 13. Owen Sieren (LM) 59.82; 22. Brennan Westphal (IC West) 1:01.73; 30. Joe Semelroth (CR Wash) 1:02.41.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Pleasant Valley 3:05.64; 4. Linn-Mar 3:10.36; 8. Iowa City West 3:14.55; 10. Cedar Rapids Washington 3:15.79; 13. Iowa City High 3:16.09; 23. Decorah 3:24.53