Washington swimmers win 51st straight district title

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Washington claimed its 51st straight boys' district swimming title Saturday while Iowa City West looked the part of a legitimate candidate for a state championship next Saturday in Marshalltown.West captured eight of 11 events, but Washington accumulated enough points with its depth to get by the Trojans, 295 to 274, at the Mercer Aquatic Center.“We're thrilled to death for our kids, obviously,” Washington Coach Chris Cruise said. “We had a great meet today.”Washington junior Jared Thorson won the 100-yard butterfly in 51.98 seconds, and sophomore Nick Saulnier won the 200 individual medley in 1:58.71. Saulnier fell two one-hundredths of a second short in the 100 backstroke to Calvin Greve of third-place Linn-Mar (239 points), who won in 52.93 seconds.Cruise points to the bond among his swimmers as the primary factor in fostering the kind of depth that keeps the Warriors successful in the district format.“Our kids do a nice job of holding each other accountable during the season and in the off-season,” Cruise said. “We do a lot of things together outside the pool, and our guys really care a lot about each other. That really helps in meets like this where depth is such a big key.”Iowa City West - tied with West Des Moines Dowling for first in the power rankings at quikstatsiowa.com - was led by sophomores Aidan Keen and Mark McGlaughlin. Each won two individual events and helped the Trojans to two relay wins.“They are mature swimmers,” West Coach Rob Miecznikowski said. “They're sophomores in high school, and they're swimming like college juniors. Their poise, how they present themselves behind the blocks, they're confident. They just work so hard. They're just those kind of kids that come along every now and then. Usually, you might see one of those kids on your team a year, but to have those two guys and Matt Anderson (in the) breaststroke; it's a dream team basically.”Keen anchored the 200 free relay, started the 400 free relay (both wins), and easily outdistanced the field in the 200 free (1:42.85) and 500 free (4:42.92). Keen will a favorite at the state meet, where he hopes to improve on last season's performance when he was the top seed in the 200 and 500 but finished no higher than third.“My performance at state last year was a little bit less than satisfactory,” said Keen, who was named district athlete of the year. “I think I know what I need to do this year. I'm just going to calm down, and I know what to do this time.”McGlaughlin won the 50 free (21.11) and 100 free (46.61), started the 200 medley relay and anchored the 400 free relay. Anderson won the 100 breaststroke in 59.64.Cedar Rapids Kennedy finished fourth with 149 points. Iowa City High (105) beat out Cedar Rapids Jefferson (87) for fifth.