Sports : State Championship for the Stormin’ Vikes

Well, sort of….

Saturday was another great day for Stormin' Viking swimming as the team competed at the State's single-classification state meet held this year at neighboring Linn-Mar. The Medley Relay team of Bradyn Schlief, Carter Kirtz, Isaac Allsup and Ian Allsup opened up the first heat of the first event with a thrilling, tight victory in their heat. Each of the four swimmers had personal best split times in shattering their own school record from last week by 1.75 seconds. Sophomore Ian Allsup turned in a blazing free-style split of 22.13 seconds to come from behind and edge out Decorah for first in the heat, 14th place in the event, but more importantly, the top time in the state for smaller/3A schools.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what the State Athletic Association says, these guys are State Champions. In no other sport in Iowa do kids from small schools have to beat the Linn-Mar's, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids or Iowa City schools for the right to be called champions. These guys beat dozens of those types of programs along with every single one of the 3A schools that have swimming programs. It was impressive. Here is a link to watch their record-setting, "Championship" performance. https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/1613256568115CgWjTYG

Other swims on the day included Carter Kirtz in 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Breast and Isaac Allsup in the 100 Back. Kirtz set a new school record and finished on the podium in 8th place with a time of 59.64, and Allsup also bettered his own school record with a 54.96 in the 100 Back to capture 21st place in the State. Both of those swims were the 2nd fastest times in the state among athletes from smaller schools.

The Stormin' Vikings finished the meet in 21st place, and 3rd among the 3A schools.

Meet results can be viewed here.