Kennedy looks to continue strong championship season efforts

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two weeks ago the Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls swim team produced its best overall performance.All but a handful of swimmers scored as the Cougars finished third in the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet. It certainly gave them something to build on as championship season continues."Individuals swam well and as a group we succeeded," said Kennedy Coach John Ross, who called it one of the most exciting days in his 14 years of swim coaching which includes the last seven as the Cougars head coach. "That's the kind of approach I love to see ... hopefully that works out (Saturday), too."This is when it counts the most. Kennedy will compete in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union regional swim meet Saturday at cedar Rapids Jefferson as swimmers from across the state vie for berths to state Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Horne Henry Aquatics Center at the Marshalltown YMCA. Regionals begin at noon with event champions and the next fastest 18 regional times  qualifying for state.The MVC could be a springboard for the Cougars, who hope to be peaking as the two biggest meets of the year approach."That's the whole idea. Hopefully, all that hard work pays off," Ross said. "Our goal is in championship meets that they have their season or lifetime best swims. if they can accomplish that, generally, all the accolades and awards take care of themselves."The Cougars are led by junior Lexi Scharmer, who earned a runner-up finish at the MVC in the 100 butterfly and earned the state's 16th fastest time earlier this season with a 1:02.62. She's one of four swimmers with state experience for the Cougars. Carmen McCoy, Kyle VanAhsen, Val Ross and Scharmer all scored state points for Kennedy last year.McCoy, Scharmer and VanAhsen were members of a 200 medley relay that reached the podium at state with a sixth-place finish. Kennedy ranks 10th in the state this season in that event. The 400 free relay is 13th.The team field includes Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Prairie-Williamsburg, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Clinton, Iowa City West, Linn-Mar and Tipton. The challenge will be trying to upend heavy favorite West, fourth in the IGHSAU power rankings, and place ahead of a strong Linn-Mar squad.The Women of Troy are led by a group of highly-ranked swimmers, including senior Sarah Weihe, sisters Lilian and Vivian Zhu and Savannah Butler. Still dominant in distance events, the Women of Troy are more balanced. Linn-Mar's Emilie Berg is one of state's best in the 100 breaststroke, posting a season-best time of 1:08.36."Iowa City West and Linn-Mar are very, very talented teams and we're excited to stand up next to them and race," Ross said. "Ultimately, that's the fun part of what's going on."Ross said his swimmer routinely make him proud by achieving the goals they set out at the start of the season. They won't focused on qualifying for state, instead the idea is control the things they can, like rest, nutrition and mentality, and improvement."As far as what else happens, they have no control over that so we don't worry about that," Ross said. "They do the best they can and I try to prepare them the best I can so they'll have that opportunity to swim at Marshalltown."The Cougars already locked up one state berth in diver Liz Hayes. who is a three-time state finalist placing 12th the last two years. Hayes received praise from Ross for her performance in Thursday's regional diving competition. She advances to the state diving meet Friday, Nov. 5.Linn-Mar junior Sam Wagner, a two-time state finalist, won the regional title at Jefferson with a score of 418.10. Washington's Sarah Larson, eighth at state last year, was second at 390.6 and West's Morgan Kinney was third. Top four divers earn automatic berths.