By Becky Walz,
Make it four North Central Swim Conference titles in a row.
Saturday, the Decorah boys’ swim team swam away from the competition to win the crown with 448 points over Vinton-Shellsburg who finished with 344 points, just ahead of Grinnell in third with 339.
Make it four North Central Swim Conference titles in a row.
Saturday, the Decorah boys’ swim team swam away from the competition to win the crown with 448 points over Vinton-Shellsburg who finished with 344 points, just ahead of Grinnell in third with 339.
“It was a great meet all around as the boys worked hard, swam hard and cheered hard. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of the day. We had some tight races, but everyone showed up and gave a great team effort,” said assistant coach Maddie Putnam.
Gold medalists
Decorah had four events climb on top of the podium, led by Drew Chamberlain.
The senior was a two-time individual event winner, beating the 200 free field to the wall in 1:54.05. Later Chamberlain posted a winning time of 54.58 seconds in the 100 backstroke for gold. He was also a member of the final 400 free relay who finished first in 3:33.20. Other members of the 400 free relay were Isaac Knaack, Simon Kutz and Gareth Sweet.
Dominic Bigalk claimed the other gold medal finish for the Vikings in 500 freestyle. He posted a winning time of 5:24.29.
Three other events won silver including Bigalk in the 200 free, Mason Cote in the 500 free and Knaack in the 100 breast. Knaack secured the only bronze for Decorah in the 200 individual medley.
The big push
The district swim meet is Saturday, Feb. 5, beginning at 12 p.m. Decorah is at Dubuque Hempstead. Other schools there are the host, Cedar Falls, Clinton, Dubuque Senior, Iowa City City High, Iowa City West and Waterloo. The fastest 32 individual swimmers and 24 relay teams from the district sites will qualify for state, which will be held in Iowa City, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12. At district competition, each school is allowed three entries per individual events and one relay.
NCC team scores
1. Decorah 448; 2. Vinton-Shellsburg 344; 3. Grinnell 339; 4. Williamsburg 305; 5. Boone 207; 6. Newton-Colfax-Mingo-Pella 201; 7. Oskaloosa 151; 8. Centerville 143
Individual results
200 medley relay – 4. Drew Chamberlain, Isaac Knaack, James VanderVelden, Dylan Hogan, 1:45.44; 7. Isaac Ericson, Mason Cote, Gareth Sweet, John Starrett, 1:55.08
200 free – 1. Chamberlain 1:54.05; 2. Dominic Bigalk 2:01.70; 4. Sweet 2:02.65
200 IM – 3. Knaack 2:14.64; 4. Simon Kutz 2:19.89; 7. VanderVelden 2:27.05
50 free – 6. Hogan 24.19; 9. Starrett 24.88; 16. Ericson 25.86; Exh. Quinn Baumann 24.51; Exh. Reid Kuehner 25.68; Exh. Nat Roberts 27.93; Exh. Hogan Smith 28.50; Exh. Davis Coppola 28.54; Exh. August Witt 28.57; Exh. Landyn Hook 28.62; Exh. Oliver Brummel 29.65; Exh. Tommy Hammel 30.01; Exh. Ezra Vorvick 33.00; Exh. Sean Brumm 41.29
100 fly – 5. Sweet 1:00.78; 6. Kutz 1:01.80; 8. Roberts 1:05.67
100 free – 7. Starrett 55.02; 8. VanderVelden 55.10; Exh. Hogan 55.58; Exh. Adam Jones 57.56; Exh. Ericson 1:00.38; Exh. Hammel 1:03.50; Exh. Brummel 1:07.63; Exh. Coppola 1:08.22; Exh. Witt 1:09.11; Exh. Vorvick 1:12.34; Exh. Brumm 1:41.34
500 free – 1. Bigalk 5:24.29; 2. Cote 5:32.65; 6. Kuehner 5:57.32
200 free relay – 4. Kutz, VanderVelden, Bigalk, Hogan, 1:37.84; 10. Baumann, Starrett, Kuehner, Witt, 1:43.84; Exh. Hammel, Smith, Brummel, Coppola, 1:56.76
100 back – 1. Chamberlain 54.58; 12. Jones 1:10.78; 15. Hook 1:16.85
100 breast – 2. Knaack 1:06.47; 8. Cote 1:11.00; 15. Smith 1:20.94
400 free relay – 1. Knaack, Kutz, Sweet, Chamberlain, 3:33.20; 7. Cote, Jones, Kuehner, Bigalk, 3:53.08; Exh. Roberts, Hook, Ericson, Brummel, 4:21.94
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