Washington’s Nick Saulnier chasing swim marks

CEDAR RAPIDS – Nick Saulnier continues to chase records and championships in his two best events.

The Cedar Rapids Washington senior was state runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley last season, and third as a sophomore. Saulnier also has two top-five finishes in the 100 backstroke at the state meet.

Saulnier took another step with top-3 times in the state this season in both events at the Jim Voss Invitational Saturday at Cedar Rapids Washington.

'My goals are probably the state record in both of those,' Saulnier said. 'If not, then winning both of them. Both records are pretty quick, but you've got to strive for the hard ones.'

Saulnier won the backstroke in 52.94 seconds, nearly five full seconds better than teammate Kaleb Donels. Saulnier earlier claimed a runner-up finish in the IM as Washington placed fourth as a team with 239.5 points. With 328.5 points, Bettendorf won the invite for the second time in three years.

The backstroke victory, coupled with his IM time of 1:56.02, moved Saulnier to third in the state this season in both events. Saulnier is also in the state's top 10 in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200, and is closing fast in the 50 free and the 100-yard breaststroke.

'My freshman year I swam every event on the board except for one,' Saulnier said. 'Every year I was like, 'Put me in every event at least once.' … I think it's one of my key assets is how versatile I am.'

That level of versatility no doubt made Saulnier an attractive candidate to college swim programs. He signed with Minnesota in November, not just for the family atmosphere the team displayed, but for their ability to work on facets of swimming he feels he needs to improve – finishes, turns and breath control underwater.

'I feel like what they work on and what their strengths are, are what my weaknesses are,' Saulnier said. 'I feel like what I can improve most at Minnesota are my weaknesses, making me a better swimmer overall.'

Washington junior Cameron Kelley notched a pair of victories Saturday, including a tie with Bettendorf's Nathan Spencer for first place in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.14. Kelley won the 500 free by over three seconds in 4:48.05, which placed him third in the state this season, just ahead of Saulnier.

'He's doing a great job also,' Washington Coach Chris Cruise said. 'Both of these kids really have great attitudes towards the sport of swimming and their team. They're such great kids to coach. They'll buy in to what we're doing and they're supportive of their teammates as well.'

JIM VOSS INVITATIONAL

At C.R. Washington

Teams — 1. Bettendorf 328.5, 2. Waukesha South 287, 3. Valley, Wdm 286, 4. CR Washington 239.5, 5. DM Lincoln Rails 130, 6. Cedar Falls 20.

200 medley relay — 1. Bettendorf (Nathan Spencer, Ryan Schade, Caleb Aman, Grant Nickles) 1:39.67 32; 2. C.R. Washington (Kaleb Donels, Nick Saulnier, Matt Jackson, George Durin) 1:41.88 26; 3. West Des Moines Valley (Gregg Lichinsky, Carl Skoog, Ethan Eiler, Beau Blazek) 1:42.61 24.

200 freestyle — 1. Cameron Kelley (CRW) 1:46.14; 1 Nathan Spencer (BET) 1:46.14.3; Zach Bunn (BET) 1:47.51.

200 individual medley — 1. Caleb Aman (BET) 1:54.00; 2. Nick Saulnier (CRW) 1:56.02; 3. Ryan Schade (BET) 2:03.31.

50 freestyle — 1. Carl Skoog (WDMV) 22.49; 2. Conrad Farrell (WS) 22.64; 3. Grant Nickles (BET) 22.82.

100 butterfly — 1. Caleb Aman (BET) 53.70; 2. Nathan Carlson (WS) 54.55; 3. John Acevedo (WS) 54.88.

100 freestyle — 1. Nathan Spencer (BET) 49.04; 2. Conrad Farrell (WS) 49.14; 3. Beau Blazek (WDMV) 49.96.

500 freestyle — 1. Cameron Kelley (CRW) 4:48.05; 2. John Acevedo (WS) 4:51.34; 3. Zach Bunn (BET) 4:58.33.

200 freestyle relay — 1. WDMV (Beau Blazek, Jacob Keller, Ethan Eiler, Carl Skoog)1:29.26; 2. CRW (George Durin, Nick Saulnier, Jeremy Throndson, Cameron Kelley) 1:31.23; 3. BET (Grant Nickles, Nate Prescher, Trevor Larson, Zach Bunn 1:31.40

100 backstroke — 1. Nick Saulnier (CRW) 52.94; 2. Kaleb Donels (CRW) 57.54; 3. Connor Clemetson (WS) 57.97.

100 breaststroke — 1. Ryan Schade (BET) 1:01.43; 2. Tyler Whitehead (DML) 1:07.15; 3. Jeremy Nagy (WS) 1:08.84.

400 freestyle relay — 1. BET (Zach Bunn, Caleb Aman, Ryan Schade, Nathan Spencer) 3:16.28 32; 2. WDMV (Carl Skoog, Jacob Keller, Ethan Eiler, Beau Blazek) 3:17.94 26; 3. WS (Conrad Farrell, Nathan Carlson, John Acevedo, Sam Wade) 3:23.37 24.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com