Cedar Falls withstands Kennedy charge for MVC swim crown

CEDAR FALLS – Cedar Rapids Kennedy gave the tree a heck of a shake, but it was not enough to tumble Cedar Falls from its perch.

A trio of Kennedy swimmers won individual events and the Cougars closed with a relay victory, but Cedar Falls mustered a few more points and won the Mississippi Valley Conference girls' swimming and diving championship for the 23rd time in 24 years Saturday at Holmes Junior High School.

'To be able to compete and go back and forth and we won quite a few events today,” Kennedy Coach John Ross said. 'Really proud of the kids' efforts in what we're doing.”

Cedar Falls edged Kennedy in the team standings, 413.50 to 408. Cedar Rapids Washington was a distant third with 242 points.

All three of Kennedy's individual winners notched season-best times in victory. Freshman Kassidy Lovig won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:59.27, eight hundredths of a second better than Madison Hall of Cedar Falls. Junior Jessica Williams nearly swam a sub-minute backstroke (1:00.05) in victory, while sprinter Maddie Bagby claimed the 100 free championship in 54.94 seconds.

'This year we finally have the confidence to take them on and say, ‘We're here to race, we're here to win,'” Bagby said.

Kennedy and Cedar Falls have produced fantastic matchups all season. The Cougars were just 21 points behind the Tigers at the City High Invitational Sept. 19, then ousted Cedar Falls at the Marcussen Invitational Oct. 3. Three days later, Cedar Falls edged Kennedy by eight points in a head-to-head dual.

Saturday was equally suspenseful, as Kennedy trailed Cedar Falls by just 1.5 points heading into the final two events. Cedar Falls sophomore Olivia Clark - who earlier won the 50 free in 24.91 seconds - collected her second individual victory with a season-best time of 1:09.34 in the 100 breaststroke.

Clark's breaststroke victory, combined with two additional Cedar Falls breaststroke point-scorers in Miah Clasby and Ellie Shimp, pushed the Cedar Falls lead to 13.5 with one event left.

'It makes us think a lot more when we're at practice,” Clark said of the Cedar Falls-Kennedy battles this season. 'I think it is actually really fun to be able to race someone. I'm not trying to be cocky, but last year it seemed like there was a lot less competition and we have some this year. It's fun.”

In the final event of the meet, the Kennedy 400 free relay team of Lovig, Bagby, Mackinzee Macho and Lydia Yang won in 3:43.70 over Iowa City West to pull within 5.5 points of Cedar Falls in the final team score.

'I think it is great to have a team that is so close to ours,” Bagby said. 'Because it really pushes our swimmers to get better and faster. Personally, I really use (Cedar Falls team captain) Madison Hall as a motivator because their team is so respectful in swimming and so good.”

Iconic Cedar Falls girls' swimming coach Dick Marcussen, a member of the IGHSAU Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame in his 47th and final season leading the Tigers, closed his final conference meet with his 23rd victory in 24 years.

'It just shows I still have it, I guess,” Marcussen said with a laugh. 'When we get to the end of the season, they seem to know how to reach down and do the impossible like they did today. ... That's the way this team is built. They believe in each other and really get out and fight tooth and nail.”

Iowa City West finished fourth on the strength of two comfortable wins from senior Erica Hsu. Hsu won the 200 IM by over five seconds in 2:11.81, then outpaced Lovig by over eight seconds in the 500 free with a time of 5:15.79.

The majority of MVC schools are off until regional swimming and diving begins in two weeks. Seven schools will compete at Linn-Mar, Iowa City High and Dubuque Senior are at Clinton, the Waterloo Swim Team competes at Southeast Polk and Cedar Falls travels west to Fort Dodge.

The state meet is Nov. 7 in Marshalltown.

MVC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Cedar Falls

Teams –

1. Cedar Falls 413.50, 2. C.R. Kennedy 408, 3. C.R. Washington 242, 4. Iowa City West 239.50, 5. Dubuque Senior 191, 6. Linn-Mar 167, 7. Iowa City High 155, 8. Dubuque Wahlert 134, 9. C.R. Jefferson 127, 10. Dubuque Hempstead 84, 11. Waterloo Swim Team 62.

Thursday

Diving -

1. Madison Schoppe (CF), 376.20; 2. Jayden Lovell (CRK), 366.00; 3. Ellie Shearer (DS), 360.75.

Saturday

200 medley relay –

1. Cedar Falls (Sammi Hall, Olivia Clark, Meghan Hackett, Grace Considine), 1:50.65; 2. C.R. Kennedy (Jessica Williams, Raquel Green, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:53.22; 3. C.R. Washington (Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Emily Nelson, Logan Eckhardt), 1:57.36.

200 freestyle –

1. Kassidy Lovig (CRK), 1:59.27; 2. Madison Hall (CF), 1:59.35; 3. Jenna Willer (DS), 2:00.74.

200 individual medley – 1. Erica Hsu (ICW), 2:11.81; 2. Mackinzee Macho (CRK), 2:16.19; 3. Hackett (CF), 2:17.76.

50 freestyle –

1. Clark (CF), 24.91; 2. S. Hall (CF), 25.26; 3. Siebenga (CRK), 25.28.

100 butterfly –

1. Hackett (CF), 59.84; 2. Lauren Havertape (CRW), 1:02.25; 3. Kailie Valentine (CF), 1:02.32.

100 freestyle – 1. Maddie Bagby (CRK), 54.94; 2. Willer (DS), 55.32; 3. M. Hall (CF), 55.98.

500 freestyle –

1. E. Hsu (ICW), 5:15.79; 2. Lovig (CRK), 5:23.92; 3. Considine (CF), 5:25.83.

200 freestyle relay –

1. Cedar Falls (Clark, Hackett, S. Hall, M. Hall), 1:39.90; 2. C.R. Kennedy (Darby Manternach, Bagby, Lovig, Siebenga), 1:41.01; 3. I.C. West (Elaina Martz, Ariel Roghair, Alison Hsu, Alleyna Thomas), 1:43.21.

100 backstroke –

1. Williams (CRK), 1:00.05; 2. S. Hall (CF), 1:01.00; 3. A. Hsu (ICW), 1:04.28.

100 breaststroke –

1. Clark (CF), 1:09.34; 2. Macho (CRK), 1:10.58; 3. Sievers (CRW), 1:10.90.

400 freestyle relay –

1. C.R. Kennedy (Lovig, Bagby, Macho, Lydia Yang), 3:43.70; 2. I.C. West (E. Hsu, Martz, A. Hsu, Roghair), 3:44.48; 3. Cedar Falls (Considine, Katherine Wikner, Valentine, M. Hall), 3:48.89.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com