An emotional boys’ swimming district for Cedar Rapids Washington

MARION — The tears in the eyes of Cedar Rapids Washington coaching staff told the story.

After the completion of the 100-yard breaststroke during Saturday's boys’ district swim meet at the Linn-Mar Aquatic Center, there wasn't a dry eye as the coaching staff returned to the team area.

The reason? A school record, that had been held for 35 years by an individual who went on to become a Hall of Fame coach and a mentor to many on the staff before his death last fall, was broken.

Yes, Chris Cruise's impact on the Washington program was on full display from those carrying on his legacy.

Wearing purple shirts to honor Cruise's memory, they watched sophomore Andrew Seifert touch the wall in 57.20, taking second in the race behind Linn-Mar's Parker Macho, breaking the mark of 57.26 Cruise set during his senior season in 1989.

“Records are made to be broken,” said current Warriors coach Matt Sinnott, fighting back tears as he spoke. “Chris would have definitely liked this today. I know he is watching above and he is excited because over the 23 years he coached, he always elevated the bar of excellence and that is just what this team did today.”

The Warriors finished second to host Linn-Mar in the team race. The Lions won eight of the 11 events to take top honors with 476.5 points, easily outdistancing the Warriors (390) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (222).

In the lore of Washington swimming, district meets have provided some of the best moments. Another one came in the 50 freestyle when senior Marcus Seifert, older brother of Andrew, upset Linn-Mar’s Hudson Huberg in a school-record time of 20.80. Huberg finished in 20.99.

“That is the first time I have ever (beat him),” Marcus Seifert said. “I've outsplit him in a relay, but I had never beaten him before.

“I felt real good coming in today. I think I sold myself short in the last few races (against Huberg). I didn't do that this time and I was able to come out on top.”

Over the years, the Warriors have been at their best in district meets, winning 53 straight district titles from 1963-2016. For Sinnott — and before him Cruise, Jim Voss and Hal Krizan — the district meet has always meant one thing.

“The whole point of this meet is to qualify for the state meet,” Sinnott said. “It's always been important because if you don't swim your absolute best you can't qualify for state. Today, from top to bottom, everybody dropped times and swam lights out.”

Andrew Seifert also got an event win, taking the 200 individual medley.

It also was a strong day for the hosts. Linn-Mar swept all three relays and saw Macho take two individual events, adding the 100 butterfly title to his win in the 100 breaststroke. Other Lion winners were Huberg (100 freestyle), Luke Kelley (200 freestyle) and Mason Turner (500 freestyle).

“I thought we all swam incredibly well today,” said Linn-Mar Coach Ian Hoover-Grinde said. “I had it in my mind what I thought we all would be able to do today where the individual groups were in their taper. I thought they all swam out of their minds today.”

IHSAA District Meet

(At Linn-Mar Aquatic Center)

Final Team scoring

1. Linn-Mar 476.5

2. Cedar Rapids Washington 390

3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 222

4. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 194

5. Vinton-Shellsburg 193.5

6. Grinnell 178

7. Burlington 144

8. Keokuk 37

EVENT RESULTS

200-yard medley relay: 1. Linn-Mar (Mason Turner, Parker Macho, Colin Taylor, Hudson Huberg) 1:34.32; 2. CR Washington (Gavin Lucas, Joe Semelroth, Andrew Seifert, Marcus Seifert) 1:35.24; 3. Vinton-Shellsburg (Wes Farrell, Brayden Beck, Broden Farrell, James DeSmet) 1:43.13.

200 freestyle: 1. Luke Kelley (LM) 1:41.01, 2. Peter Wittenbel (CRW) 1:45.91, 3. Owen Sierren (LM) 1:47.83.

200 individual medley: 1. Andrew Seifert (CRW) 1:54.27, 2. Brendan Worster (Keo) 1:55.68, 3. Connor Schaffel (LM) 2:01.34

50 freestyle: 1. Marcus Seifert (CRW) 20.80, 2. Hudson Huberg (LM) 20.99, 3. Brody Petig (G) 22.90.

100 butterfly: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 49.64, 2. John Cottrell (Burl) 50.38, 3. Carter Byers (LM) 54.31

100 freestyle: 1. Hudson Huberg (LM) 46.25, 2. Marcus Seifert (CRW) 46.73, 3. Colin Taylor (LM) 48.61

500 freestyle: 1. Mason Turner (LM) 4:39.67 2. Luke Kelley (LM) 4:42.58, 3. Connor Schaffel (LM) 4:50.40

200 freestyle relay: 1. Linn-Mar (Parker Macho, Colin Taylor, Ethan Crawford, Luke Kelley) 1:27.81, 2. CR Washington (Joe Semelroth, Josiah Wickham, Peter Wittnebel, Marcus Seifert) 1:29.15, 3. Grinnell (Brody Petig, Isaac Rhinehart, Wyatt Sumner, Jeff Sieck) 1:31.38

100 backstroke: 1. Brendan Worster (Keo) 50.73, 2. Mason Turner (LM) 53.29; 3. John Cottrell (Burl) 53.44

100 breaststroke: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 56.91, 2. Andrew Seifert (CRW) 57.20, 3. Owen Sieren (LM) 59.82

400 freestyle relay: 1. Linn-Mar (Hudson Huberg, Mason Turner, Colin Taylor, Luke Kelley) 3:10.36, 2. CR Washington (Peter Wittnebel, Anthony Trotta, Gavin Lucas, Andrew Seifert) 3:15.79, 3. Grinnell (Brody Petig, Chase Rundall, Wyatt Sumner, Jeff Sieck) 3:24.62

District Swimmers of the Year: Parker Macho, Linn-Mar and Marcus Seifert, CR Washington

District Coaching Staff of the Year: Chad Derlein and the coaching staff at Cedar Rapids Kennedy