By Becky Walz,
Decorah’s Nathaniel Roberts finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly at the North Central Swim Conference meet Saturday, posting a time of 1:00.29. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Becky Walz)
Make it six in row – conference titles that is.
The Decorah boys’ swim team is hitting its peak with the postseason underway with the North Central Swim Conference title Saturday in Grinnell. The Vikes racked up 472.5 points to win the title over Boone who tallied 448.
Outstanding performances were the norm for Decorah at the conference meet with 44 of the 46 individual swims and five of the six Viking relays posting season-best times and winning three events and putting 18 individuals and/or relays on the podium with top-six finishes.
“Words cannot describe how proud I am of the entire team. From the very first relay where we put three teams in the top six relays, we showed our team depth,” said Coach Loran Storts.
Isaac Knaack won two titles with the first coming in the opening race of the day — the 200-yard medley relay. He teamed up with Mason Cote, Simon Kutz and Dylan Hogan to stop the clock first at 1:44.25. In the individual 100-yard backstroke he was first to touch the wall in 56 seconds.
In the 500-yard freestyle, it was Dom Bigalk posting a winning time of 5:25.71.
Decorah also had two silver-place finishes including Bigalk in the 200-yard freestyle and Cote in the 100-yard breaststroke. Rounding out the top-three finishes were four other events. Earning bronze were Reid Kuehner in the 200-yard individual medley, Kutz in the 100-yard butterfly, Knaack in the 100-yard freestyle and Max Grimstad in the 500-yard freestyle.
Next up is the district meet in Mason City Saturday,
Feb. 3, at 12 p.m. Other teams in the district are Ankeny, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Mason City, Spencer and Waterloo. The State Swim Meet will be held in Iowa City Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9-10.
North Central Swim Conference team scores
1. Decorah 472.5; 2. Boone 448; 3. Newton 297.5; 4. Grinnell 289; 5. Vinton-Shellsburg 202; 6. Boys 168; 7. Centerville 134; 8. Oskaloosa 109; 9. Para 40
Varsity race results
200 medley relay – 1. Isaac Knaack, Mason Cote, Simon Kutz, Dylan Hogan, 1:44.25; 4. Keaton Vobr, Reid Kuehner, Nat Roberts, Ian Giddings, 1:51.85; 8. Jack Sovern, Phuong Doan, Kyle Pattison, Ethan Casper, 2:05.30
200 free – 2. Dom Bigalk 1:57.44; 4. Max Grimstad 2:02.47; 7. Tommy Hammel 2:11.65
200 IM – 3. Kuehner 2:12.95; 10. Will Robinson 2:27.80
50 free – 5. Giddings 23.73; 6. Hogan 23.74; 12. Davis Coppola 24.82; 15. Vobr 25.40; 23. Oliver Brummel 27.19; 25. Dalton Ellickson 27.42; 27. Olver Bollinger 27.86; 28. Kyan Oftedahl 28.04; 29. Andrew Olson 28.23; 32. Eli Sassaman 28.63; 33. Ashton Saltou 28.66; 34. Casper 28.73; 37. Sovern 28.97; 43. Esteban Fernandez 30.72; 44. Doan 30.76; 46. Spencer Christensen 31.20
100 fly – 3. Kutz 59.27; 6. Roberts 1:00.29; 10. Pattison 1:05.58
100 free – 3. Knaack 50.60; 7. Cote 52.60; 12. Giddings 55.55; 16. Coppola 56.19; 22. Ellickson 1:02.13; 24. Oftedahl 1:02.91; 25. Bollinger 1:03.87; 29. Brummel 1:05.14; 31. Sovern 1:05.55; 35. Olson 1:06.83; 26. Saltou 1:07.15; 38. Sassaman 1:08.40; 39. Fernandez 1:09.95; 40. Doan 1:10.35; 41. Christensen 1:10.66
500 free – 1. Bigalk 5:25.71; 3. Grimstad 5:39.70; 8. Hammel 6:13.95
200 free relay – 4. Knaack, Hogan, Cote, Kutz, 1:33.25; 6. Kuehner, Vobr, Robinson, Bigalk, 1:38.05; 11. Pattison, Sassaman, Olson, Brummel, 1:51.86
100 back – 1. Knaack 56.00; 9. Vobr 1:09.32; 10. Casper 1:10.90
100 breast – 2. Cote 1:05.85; 7. Kuehner 1:08.19; 8. Robinson 1:10.43
400 free relay – 4. Bigalk, Hogan, Giddings, Kutz, 3:31.97; 6. Gimstad, Hammel, Coppola, Roberts, 3:51.81; 11. Ellickson, Oftedahl, Christensen, Bolling, 4:19.35
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