Kennedy splashes to title in regional

IOWA CITY - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls' swimming team is heading to Marshalltown with momentum and a couple of school records in tow.Kennedy's relay teams notched wins in the 200-yard freestyle and a school-record time of 1:52.06 in the 200 medley as the Cougars won the girls' swimming regional Saturday at the Mercer Aquatic Center.“The girls obviously were prepared for today,” Kennedy Coach John Ross said. “Muscatine and Iowa City West are very deep and talented schools. For us to be able to compete and beat both of those schools is an amazing day.”Kennedy tallied 432.5 team points for the win, getting a big boost from Michele Wasta, who narrowly edged Iowa City West's Sarah Ritchie in the 100 butterfly by .21 of a second in 1:01.30.Cougar sophomore Kirsten Siebenga anchored both relay wins.“It's been so exciting,” Siebenga said. “Our whole team just supports us, and everyone just builds on each other.”West placed second with 424 points, highlighted by wins in the 200 individual medley and 500 free by sophomore Erica Hsu.“Really surprised that I actually did that well,” Hsu said.The second Kennedy record fell in the 100 backstroke when Sam Jacobsen claimed bronze in 59.78 seconds. West's Lilian Zhu bested a loaded field of six previous state qualifiers in 58.64, a record for West.“I've been looking at that record for a while now, so it's nice to finally have it,” Zhu said.Iowa City High (235) and Cedar Rapids Washington (190) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Williamsburg placed eighth with 95 points.City High's Lizzie Brown continues to show the way in the 100 breaststroke, fending off Kennedy's Brooke Timmerman in 1:06.32.Brown is a three-time state qualifier who finished fourth at state last season.“I've been training a lot, and mostly mentally preparing myself because it was a little nerve-wracking last year,” Brown said.The six regional winners plus the next 18 best times qualified in each event for Saturday's state meet at Marshalltown.