Linn-Mar’s Drake breaks records, but Cedar Falls depth wins MVC swim meet

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Linn-Mar girls' swimming team had the 'wow” performances, but Cedar Falls used its usual of allotment of talented depth to remain on top of the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Linn-Mar sophomore Kelsey Drake broke two individual MVC meet records, and anchored a third in the 400 freestyle relay, but it wasn't enough to prevent Cedar Falls from winning its seventh-straight conference championship Saturday at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

'It means a lot,” Drake said. 'I was really excited for this meet and I was coming in expecting to break a few records.”

Drake's individual records came in the same two events she was state runner-up in last season for Cedar Rapids Jefferson - the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. Her 200 IM time of 2:07.35 eclipsed a record which stood since 1996 (2:07.90, Sarah Dougall, Cedar Rapids Washington). The old 100 butterfly record was much more recent - it was Drake's from last season.

'I'm really excited knowing that I swam so well today,” said Drake, who finished the 100 fly in 56.16 seconds. 'It makes me that much more excited for regionals.”

The 400 free relay of Jenn Jenks, Lizzie Adams, Stephanie Jenks and Drake closed the meet with their school's third MVC record - 3:38.95.

'The team, the relays, I think it's going to be an exceptional season for us,” said Jenn Jenks, who also recorded individual wins in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle.

A disqualification ruling in the opening 200 medley relay prevented Linn-Mar (333 points) from a second-place finish to Cedar Falls, which piled up 446 points to win its 22nd MVC title in 23 seasons. Lions' backstroker Lizzie Adams was found to have still been completely submerged at the time she touched the wall on the opening leg of the season-best finish of 1:51.65, costing Linn-Mar 40 points.

The penalty vaulted host Kennedy into second place with 354 points. Junior Kirsten Siebenga anchored runner-up finishes in the medley and 200 freestyle relays, and reached the top-5 in the 50 freestyle and the 100 free.

'Kirsten's a great example of really focusing and competing when the time comes,” Kennedy Coach John Ross said.

Erica Hsu posted runner-up finishes in both the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke (just .03 behind Sammi Hall of Cedar Falls) for Iowa City West, which placed fourth with 264 points.

Washington was fifth with 168 points behind three bronze placewinners – freshmen Emily Nelson (500 free) and Caitlin Sievers (100 breaststroke), plus the medley relay team of Kaitlyn Nemickas, Sievers, Lauren Havertape and Logan Eckhardt.

MVC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

At C.R. Kennedy

Teams – 1. Cedar Falls 446, 2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 354, 3. Linn-Mar 333, 4. Iowa City West 264, 5. Cedar Rapids Washington 168, 6. Dubuque Senior 153, 7. Dubuque Wahlert 134, 8. Waterloo West 123, 9. Dubuque Hempstead 88, 10. Iowa City High 73, 11. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 56, 12. Waterloo East 43.

200 medley relay – 1. Cedar Falls (Sammi Hall, Natalie Shimp, Meghan Hackett, Madison Hall), 1:51.67; 2. C.R. Kennedy (Sam Jacobsen, MacKinzee Macho, Taylor Golden, Kirsten Siebenga), 1:54.52; 3. C.R. Washington (Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Lauren Havertape, Logan Eckhardt), 1:55.44. 200 freestyle – 1. Jenn Jenks (LM), 1:55.17; 2. Brittany Moffatt (CF), 1:58.03; 3. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 2:02.40. 200 individual medley – 1. Kelsey Drake (LM), 2:07.35-x; 2. Erica Hsu (ICW), 2:13.07; 3. Olivia Clark (CF), 2:17.18; 50 freestyle – 1. M. Hall (CF), 25.30; 2. Lizzie Adams (LM), 25.33; 3. Martee Grainger (CF), 25.56; 100 butterfly – 1. Drake, 56.16-x; 2. Hackett (CF), 1:00.06; 3. Kailie Valentine (CF), 1:02.51. 100 freestyle – 1. J. Jenks, 53.08; 2. M. Hall, 55.60; 3. Jenna Willer (DS), 55.70. 500 freestyle – 1. Moffatt, 5:22.07; 2. S. Jenks, 5:30.99; 3. Emily Nelson (CRW), 5:35.01. 200 freestyle relay – 1. Cedar Falls (Clark, Shimp, M. Hall, Moffatt), 1:41.04; 2. C.R. Kennedy (Darby Manternach, Maddie Bagby, Lydia Yang, Siebenga), 1:41.94; 3. Linn-Mar (S. Jenks, Hailey Harms, Paige Broghammer, Kelly Wingerson), 1:45.32. 100 backstroke – 1. S. Hall, 1:01.73; 2. E. Hsu, 1:01.76; 3. Alanna Thompson (WW), 1:02.16. 100 breaststroke – 1. Shimp, 1:10.57; 2. Clark, 1:11.34; 3. Sievers, 1:12.19. 400 freestyle relay – Linn-Mar (J. Jenks, Adams, S. Jenks, Drake), 3:38.95-x; 2. Cedar Falls (Grainger, Hackett, Clark, Moffatt), 3:40.07; 3. C.R. Kennedy (Manternach, Bagby, Jacobsen, Yang), 3:48.80.

x-new conference record

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