Iowa boys’ state swimming 2024 results: Joe Polyak closes City High career with 2 more state titles

IOWA CITY — The plan worked out perfectly for Joe Polyak.

In his fourth year of swimming at the state meet, the Iowa City High senior knew what to expect.

He also knew the preliminary numbers did not tell the entire story.

“The fourth time around, I have built a little confidence,” he said with a smile. “I wasn't fully tapered for districts and I really didn't rest until this week.”

Polyak capped off a brilliant prep career by defending his title in the 200-yard individual medley, winning in 1:46.35, five seconds ahead of runner-up Dylan Nelson of West Des Moines Valley. He backed that up by taking the 100 breaststroke title in 53.42 seconds.

In most years, that performance would have likely been worthy of the swimmer of the meet honor, but that went to his I-Fly club teammate Owen Chiles of Pleasant Valley, who set state records in winning the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke, along with being a part of two relay wins for the Spartans.

Recommended Reading

Photos: Boys’ state swim meet

“That speaks to the level of talent in this meet,” Polyak said. “Nothing today was easy and that shows how good the swimming is here in Iowa.”

In the team race, West Des Moines Valley came away with the title, scoring 235 points. Waukee was second (219.5) and Linn-Mar had the best finish in school history, taking third with 187.5 points. Iowa City West was fifth (168)

The next stop for Polyak will be a collegiate career at Minnesota. His final event as a prep was something he will always remember.

“It worked out great,” he said. “I have a couple (of club meets) after; this was a great first step.

"I was really hoping to get a couple of state records, but that doesn't take anything away from the experience."

Iowa City West set a new standard in the first event, the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Hayden Hakes, Winston Fan, Holden Carter and Max Gerke touched in 1:30.31. The fourth state mark was set in the 500 freestyle where West Des Moines Valley's Jacob Pins won the event for the third straight year, finishing in 4:20.86, breaking the old mark by nearly three seconds. West's Hakes was second in 4:28.63.

Carter was an individual champion as well, taking top honors in the 100 butterfly (48.57).

The Trojans also finished second in the 400 free relay.

The story of the day for Linn-Mar was consistency and depth. The best individual finishes for the Lions were a second from Parker Macho in the 100 butterfly and a third-place by sophomore Hudson Huberg in the 50 freestyle.

“This was a great team finish,” said Lions Coach Ian Hoover-Grinde. “Obviously we had high expectations coming into the year and I'm so happy the guys saw the results of their hard work and training here today.”

The lack of an event winner showed, in Hoover-Grinde's eyes, the team-first mentality of the Lions.

“Overall, I know we didn't have any individual or relay champions,” he said. “How well we placed overall in both consolation finals and A finals shows not only the depth we have on our team, but just how much better swimming is all around the state of Iowa.”

Iowa high school boys’ state swimming results

At Iowa City

Team scoring

1. West Des Moines Valley 235

2. Waukee 219.5

3. Linn-Mar 187.5

4, Pleasant Valley 181

5. Iowa City West 168

6. Ames 152

7. Bettendorf 131

8. Cedar Falls 128

9. Ankeny 113

10. West Des Moines Dowling 90

11. Cedar Rapids Washington 87.5

12. Iowa City High 64

13. Sioux City West 61

14. Dubuque Hempstead 59.5

15. Carroll 54.5

16. Newton 37

17. Boone 36

18. Dubuque Senior 34.5

19. Southeast Polk 33

20. Keokuk 24

21. Ottumwa 19

22. Burlington 17

23. Davenport Central 14

24. Davenport West 12

25, Johnston 8

26. Decorah 2

27. (tie) Centerville, Muscatine 1

(Top 3 and Gazette area finishers)

200-yard medley relay

1. Iowa City West (Hayden Hakes, Winston Fan, Holden Carter, Max Gerke) 1:30.31 (new state record)

2. West Des Moines Valley 1:31.96

3. Waukee 1:32.20

4. Linn-Mar (Mason Turner, Parker Macho, Colin Taylor, Hudson Huberg) 1:32.99

10. Cedar Rapids Washington (Gavin Lucas, Joe Semelroth, Andrew Seifert, Marcus Seifert) 1:37.28

17. Decorah (Isaac Knaack, Mason Cote, Simon Kutz, Dylan Hogan) 1:40.88,

20. Iowa City High (Lars Hackathorn, Phillip Berry-Stoelze, Grant Bumsted, Charlie Pfohl) 1:42.12

21. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Tyler Brekke, Conner Below, Drake Klein, AJ Miller) 1:43.06

22. Vinton-Shellsburg (Wes Farrell, Brayden Beck, Broden Ferrell, James DeSmet) 1:43.37

200 Para freestyle

1. Nathaniel Crow (Williamsburg) 3:39.41

200 freestyle

1. Jacob Pins (West Des Moines Valley) 1:37.78

2, John Butler (Cedar Falls) 1:38.48

3. Will Gorman (Pleasant Valley) 1:39.10

5. Luke Kelley (Linn-Mar) 1:41.64

23. Peter Wittnebel (Cedar Rapids Washington) 1:47.87

24. Owen Sieren (Linn-Mar) 1:47.98

32. Braydon Calonder (Iowa City High) 1:50.69

200 individual medley

1. Joe Polyak (Iowa City High) 1:46.3

2. Dylan Nelson (West Des Moines Valley) 1:51.61

3. Ian McCorkle (Ames) 1:52.85

8. Andrew Seifert (Cedar Rapids Washington) 1:56.10

11. Winston Fan (Iowa City West) 1:55.27

19. Philip Berry-Stoelzle (Iowa City High) 2:01.15

30. Connor Schaffel (Linn-Mar) 2:04.73

50 para freestyle

1. Isaiah Picard (Indianola) 42.55

2. James Duncan (Williamsburg) 53.76

50 freestyle

1. Finn Martin (Newton) 20.31

2. Nick Rounds (West Des Moines Dowling) 20.35

3. Hudson Huberg (Linn-Mar) 20.79

4. Max Gerke (Iowa City West) 20.92

5. Marcus Seifert (Cedar Rapids Washington) 20.95

100 butterfly

1. Holden Carter (Iowa City West) 48.57

2. Parker Macho (Linn-Mar) 49.17

3. Dylan Alt (Waukee) 49.54

5. Max Gerke (Iowa City West) 49.94

32. Carter Byers (LM) 54.96

100 para freestyle

1. Jaiden Lovelace (Sioux City West) 1:29.79

2. Isaiah Piccard (Indianola) 1:42.85

3. James Duncan (Williamsburg) 2:16.48

100 freestyle

1. Owen Chiles (Pleasant Valley) 43.42 (new state record)

2. Finn Martin (Newton) 44.94

3. John Butler (Cedar Falls) 45.45

5. Hudson Huberg (Linn-Mar) 45.64

7. Marcus Seifert (Cedar Rapids Washington) 46.49

19. Colin Taylor (Linn-Mar) 48.36

28. Philip Berry-Stoelzle (Iowa City High) 49.16

500 freestyle

1. Jacob Pins (West Des Moines Valley) 4:20.86 (new state record)

2. Hayden Hakes (Iowa City West) 4:28.63

3. John Fisher (Ames) 4:33.69

4. Luke Kelley (Linn-Mar) 4:35.99

6. Mason Turner (Linn-Mar) 4:38.86

15. Peter Wittnebel (Cedar Rapids Washington) 4:52.18

24. Connor Schaffel (Linn-Mar) 4:56.43

25. Sheppard West (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 4:56.88

200 freestyle relay

1. Pleasant Valley (Owen Chiles, Caleb Steward, Jamison Gray, Will Gorman) 1:22.95 (new state record)

2. Dubuque Hempstead 1:24.87

3. Bettendorf 1:25.04

11. Linn-Mar (Parker Macho, Colin Taylor, Ethan Crawford, Luke Kelley) 1:27.20

12. Iowa City High (Joe Polyak, Braydon Calonder, Grant Bumsted, Charlie Pfohl) 1:27.31

16. Decorah (Isaac Knaack, Dylan Hogan, Mason Cote, Simon Kutz) 1:29.27,

19. Cedar Rapids Washington (Marcus Seifert, Joe Semelroth, Josiah Wickham, Peter Wittnebel) 1:30.22

DQ: Iowa City West (Winston Fan, Joshua Trent, Rhys Long, Oliver Mikulski) 1:31.14

100 para backstroke

1. Jaiden Lovelace (Sioux City West) 1:38.43

2. Nathaniel Crow (Williamsburg) 2:00.57

100 backstroke

1. Owen Chiles (Pleasant Valley) 47.64 (new state record)

2. Nick Rounds (West Des Moines Dowling) 48.93

3. Dylan Nelson (West Des Moines Valley) 49.51

4. Holden Carter (Iowa City West) 50.55

9. Mason Turner (Linn-Mar) 51.79

15. Gavin Lucas (Cedar Rapids Washington) 55.10

23. Isaac Knaack (Decorah) 54.82

28. Oliver Mikulski (Iowa City West) 55.30

100 breaststroke

1. Joe Polyak (Iowa City High) 53.42

2. Klein Brock (Waukee) 55.43

3. Keifer Roemer (Bettendorf) 55.93

4. Parker Macho (Linn-Mar) 56.87

8. Andrew Seifert (Cedar Rapids Washington) 57.53

10. Winston Fan (Iowa City West) 57.35

14. Owen Sieren (Linn-Mar) 1:00.02

20. Brennan Westphal (Iowa City West) 1:01.73

32. Joe Semelroth (Cedar Rapids Washington) 1:02.41

400 freestyle relay

1. Pleasant Valley (Will Gorman, Caleb Steward, Jamison Gray, Owen Chiles) 3:06.03

2. Iowa City West (Max Gerke, Hayden Hakes, Holden Carter, Winston Fan) 3:06.79

3. Ames 3:08.14

4. Linn-Mar (Hudson Huberg, Mason Turner, Colin Taylor, Luke Kelley) 3:08.16

8. Cedar Rapids Washington (Marcus Seifert, Josiah Wickham, Gavin Lucas, Andrew Seifert) 3:10.06

10. Iowa City High (Philip Berry-Stoelzle, Charlie Pfohl, Braydon Calonder, Joe Polyak) 3:11.51

17. Decorah (Isaac Knaack, Dominic Bigalk, Mason Cote, Simon Kutz) 3:20.60