Havertape, Hughes lead Wash swimmers over Linn-Mar

CEDAR RAPIDS - Megan Lewis calls her team a 'work in progress.”

The Cedar Rapids Washington girls' swimming coach has already seen where her squad stands against the strength of Mississippi Valley Conference in early-season road duals at Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

With those two in their rearview mirror, 10th-ranked Washington has its sights set on continued improvement, which began Tuesday with a convincing 117-69 victory over No. 13 Linn-Mar in a Mississippi Valley Conference dual at Washington.

'This time of season is hard, no matter what we do,” Lewis said. 'Because there is ups and downs. They're working hard, they're tired. ...What we were going to pull out today was going to be totally up to them.”

Washington (2-2, 2-2 MVC) won 10 of 12 events, led by sophomores Lauren Havertape and Jenny Hughes, who each tallied a pair of individual wins.

Havertape won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.97 seconds, then posted a season-best time of 1:02.01 in the 100-yard butterfly. Havertape qualified for last year's state meet in both events. After putting in work over the summer, Havertape is ahead of last season's pace and already within a second of her state-meet butterfly time.

'It feels better because last year I was slower and I had to get up to that,” Havertape said. 'Starting out faster, it feels better to drop some time this year. Working on the little things in my stroke that make a big difference.”

Havertape also assisted with two relay wins, while Hughes continued her strong start to her season with wins in both distance events - the 200-yard freestyle (2:05.70) and the 500 free (5:33.73).

'I like distance events a lot,” Hughes said. 'And I really like the breaststroke, too, but (Caitlin) Sievers is, THE breaststroker. I'm okay chilling with the 200 and the 500. They're my favorite events, then the breaststroke.”

Sievers - a sophomore who ranks in the top six in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke - touched the wall in 1:10.58, a full three seconds before Linn-Mar senior Paige Broghammer.

Sophomore Emily Nelson (200-yard individual medley in 2:20.89) and senior Kaitlyn Nemickas (100-yard backstroke in 1:07.47) also won for Washington.

'It was really exciting,” Havertape said. 'Beating Linn-Mar is kind of like a big thing.”

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

C.R. Washington 117, Linn-Mar 69

200 medley relay - C.R. Washington (Kaitlyn Nemeckas, Caitlin Sievers, Lauren Havertape, Logan Eckhardt), 1:56.06; 200 free - Jenny Hughes (CRW), 2:05.70; 200 IM - Emily Nelson (CRW), 2:20.89; 50 free - Havertape (CRW), 25.97; 100 butterfly - Havertape (CRW), 1:02.01; 100 free - Hannah Gardner (LM), 59.32; 500 free - Hughes (CRW), 5:33.73; 200 free relay - Linn-Mar (Madison Renz, Paige Broghammer, Gardner, Serena Brizard), 1:46.56; 100 back - Nemickas (CRW), 1:07.47; 100 breaststroke - Sievers (CRW), 1:10.58; 400 free relay - C.R. Washington (Havertape, Hughes, Delaney Thoma, Nelson), 4:01.79; Diving -

Amara Taylor (CRW), 217.20.

OTHER GIRLS' SWIMMING RESULTS

C.R. Kennedy 130, Dubuque Wahlert 55

Iowa City High 119, Waterloo Swim Team 57

Cedar Falls 118, Iowa City West 68

AT IOWA CITY HIGH

Iowa City High 119, Waterloo Swim Team 57

200 medley relay - Iowa City High (Alayna McCafferty, Laura Lorenger, Meirav Flatté, Lauren Whaley), 2:04.78; 200 free - Kendra Woodward (WW), 2:11.93; 200 IM - Lorenger (ICH), 2:24.67; 50 free - Maggie Cremers (ICH), 29.38; 100 butterfly - Alix Sharp (ICH), 1:06.78; 100 free - Devan O'Rourke (ICH), 58.35; 500 free - Beatrice Kearns (ICH), 5:46.72; 200 free relay - Iowa City High (McCafferty, O'Rourke, Clara Froeschner, Sharp), 1:50.59; 100 back - Alexis Leavell (WW), 1:10.35; 100 breaststroke - Sharp (ICH), 1:17.37; 400 free relay - Iowa City High (O'Rourke, Whaley, Lorenger, Sharp), 4:02.15; Diving -

Andrea Adam (ICH), 215.75.

AT DUBUQUE

C.R. Kennedy 130, Dubuque Wahlert 55

200 medley relay - C.R. Kennedy (Reagan Linder, Raquel Green, Taylor Golden, Lydia Yang), 1:58.33; 200 free - Sarah Gannon (CRK), 2:07.44; 200 IM - Jessica Williams (CRK), 2:22.10; 50 free - Yang (CRK), 26.57; 100 butterfly - MacKinzee Macho (CRK), 1:02.43; 100 free - Carlie Noel (DW), 59.16; 500 free - Gannon (CRK), 5:36.36; 200 free relay - C.R. Kennedy (Williams, Golden, Macho, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:45.76; 100 back - Linder (CRK), 1:08.17; 100 breaststroke - Macho (CRK), 1:14.01; 400 free relay - C.R. Kennedy (Kassidy Lovig, Williams, Gannon, Yang), 3:55.83; Diving -

Jayden Lovell (CRK), 213.55.

AT CORALVILLE RECREATION CENTER

Cedar Falls 118, I.C. West 68

200 medley relay - Cedar Falls (Sammi Hall, Olivia Clark, Megan Hackett, Grace Considine), 1:53.29; 200 free – Madison Hall (CF), 2:00.80; 200 individual medley – Erica Hsu (ICW), 2:10.70; 50 free – Grace Considine (CF), 25.98; Diving – Madison Schoppe (CF), 234.35; 100 butterfly – Kailie Valentine (CF), 1:02.61; 100 free – M. Hall (CF), 1:06.46; 500 free – E. Hsu (ICW), 5:15.57; 200 free relay – Cedar Falls (Clark, S. Hall, Hackett, M. Hall), 1:42.66; 100 backstroke – Alison Hsu (ICW), 1:03.07; 100 breaststroke – Clark (CF), 1:11.52; 400 free relay –

Cedar Falls (Hackett, Considine, S. Hall, M. Hall), 3:45.73.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com