8 MVC records fall at sparkling UI pool

IOWA CITY – The curtain lifted on the first high school swimming meet at the University of Iowa's five-year-old pool on Saturday, and the result was a collection of exuberant swimmers touting conference benchmarks.

Iowa City West claimed six of the eight records set at the Mississippi Valley Conference boys' swimming championships on its way to second place in the team standings at the UI Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.

'Everyone knows that this is a fast pool, and everyone has been putting in so much work,' West senior Mark McGlaughlin said. 'We were just excited to swim in a pool like this and see what we could do.'

McGlaughlin was a part of four West victories, all MVC records. The North Carolina State signee claimed the 100-yard freestyle in 45.22 seconds, then outdid his own benchmark in the 100 backstroke in 50.17. McGlaughlin swam the butterfly portion of a record-setting 200 medley relay time of 1:35.06 with teammates Aidan Keen, Oliver Martin and Will Scott, then started the same quartet to a blinding 3:05.62 in the 400 free relay, which bettered the previous MVC record by nearly 10 full seconds.

'I'm going through some tough training, and to put out times like that at this point in the season is fantastic,' McGlaughlin said.

Keen and Scott eclipsed two of their own MVC records from last season. Keen won the 200 free in 1:41.28, while Scott edged his 50-free standard by six-hundredths of a second in 20.78.

Keen also chased his 2015 performance in the 500 free, but inspired Cedar Rapids Washington junior Cameron Kelley touched the wall more than three seconds faster, establishing an MVC standard of 4:37.19.

'I came in really wanting to just beat him,' Kelley said. 'That was the main goal. Get ahead of him, touch the wall first. And the fact that I beat his record too was kind of exciting to say the least.'

Kelley also anchored a Washington crown in the 200 free relay with Nick Saulnier, George Durin and Jeremy Throndson. Saulnier breezed to victory in the 200 IM for the Warriors, who finished third overall.

The oldest record to fall came courtesy of Dubuque Senior's John Colin, who snapped a 47-year-old mark in the 100-yard butterfly with a victory in 51.91 seconds. The Rams won the team title for the third time in four years with 350 points.

'We just have a really good, nice, deep team,' Dubuque Senior Coach Dan Duclos said. 'They had to come out and swim well and they did.'

Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior Paul Hummell won the 100 breaststroke in 58.84, the state's best time this season.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At UI Campus Wellness and Recreation Center Natatorium

Teams –

1. Dubuque Senior 350; 2. Iowa City West 340; 3. Cedar Rapids Washington 305; 4. Linn-Mar 213; 5. Dubuque Hempstead 176; 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 175; 7. Cedar Falls 133; 8. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 126; 9. Iowa City High 125; 10. Waterloo Swim Team 101.

200 medley relay –

1. I.C. West (Aidan Keen, Oliver Martin, Mark McGlaughlin, Will Scott), 1:35.06-*; 2. Dubuque Senior (John Colin , Andrew Breitfelder, Jacob Hansen, Brandon Sindt), 1:38.06; 3. C.R. Washington (Kaleb Donels, Nick Saulnier, Matt Jackson, George Durin), 1:38.61.

200 freestyle –

1. Keen (ICW), 1:41.28-*; 2. Cameron Kelley (CRW), 1:43.02; 3. Will Colin (DS), 1:48.64.

200 individual medley –

1. Saulnier (CRW), 1:55.68; 2. Kyle Leininger (WST), 2:04.12; 3. Donels (CRW), 2:05.46.

50 freestyle –

1. Scott (ICW), 20.78-*; 2. Paul Hummell (CRJ), 22.17; 3. Stefan Kitsos (CRK), 22.19.

100 butterfly –

1. J. Colin (DS), 51.91-*; 2. Martin (ICW), 52.18; 3. Matt Peng (LM), 54.78.

100 freestyle –

1. McGlaughlin (ICW), 45.22-*; 2. Scott (ICW), 46.25; 3. Durin (CRW), 49.48.

500 freestyle –

1. Kelley (CRW), 4:37.19-*; 2. Keen (ICW), 4:40.25; 3. Hogan Myers (LM), 4:58.00.

200 freestyle relay –

1. C.R. Washington (Saulnier, Durin, Jeremy Throndson, Kelley), 1:28.25; 2. Dubuque Senior (John Dalton, Jack Benda, Ben Kubitz, Sindt), 1:29.39; 3. Dubuque Hempstead (Sean Johnson, Nick Rober, Tom Poggemiller, Chris Duehr), 1:29.83.

100 backstroke –

1. McGlaughlin (ICW), 50.17-*; 2. J. Colin (DS), 51.34; 3. Saulnier (CRW), 51.84.

100 breaststroke –

1. Paul Hummell (CRJ), 58.84; 2. Martin (ICW), 58.99; 3. Kitsos (CRK), 1:01.59.

400 freestyle relay –

1. I.C. West (McGlaughlin, Keen, Martin, Scott), 3:05.62-*; 2. Dubuque Senior (J. Colin, Dalton, Nick Topping, W. Colin), 3:16.89; 3. Dubuque Hempstead (Duehr, Rober, Poggemiller, Johnson), 3:20.04.

*-MVC record

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com