Sports : Viking Swimmers have the best single-meet performance in more than a decade

How do you follow up a 41st straight WaMaC title? Well, the “storming” Vikings answered that Saturday with a strong performance at the North Central Swim Conference Meet in Decorah. The team turned in its best single-meet performance in more than a decade finishing a solid 5th place at Conference and earning some tremendous individual recognition along the way. The highlight of the day was Junior Cyrus Elwick claiming the Conference Championship in the 50 Freestyle with a personal best time of 23.11 barely edging out the top-seeded swimmer by 8/100s of a second. Cyrus followed that up by medaling in the 100 free, taking third place with another personal best time of 51.82. But the best was yet to come for Cyrus who was recognized at the end of the meet as the Conference’s Athlete of the Year. The award voted on by the seven Head Coaches, is awarded each year to the athlete in the North Central Swim Conference who most demonstrates excellence in athletics, academics, and leadership. Cyrus had accomplished this despite splitting his time between swimming and bowling where he earned an individual state appearance last year – as well as being a talented musician in jazz band. Other accomplishments on the day included the Medley Relay of Freshmen Brayden Schlief and Carter Kirtz, Sophomore Isaac Allsup and Elwick earning a spot on the podium with a 5th place finish. Individuals also finding their way onto the medal stand included Elwick (1st – 50 free; 3rd – 100 free), Allsup with a 4th in the 100 back and Kirtz with a 6th in the 100 breast. While the strong efforts of those swimmers went a long way towards the team point total, the efforts of all of the guys helped enable the team success. In all the swimmers completed 49 swims, 37 of which resulted in new personal best times. Senior Captain Tristan Miller, exchange student Pietro Sassone and Sophomore Elias Colsch led the way with four new personal best times. Sophomore Zack Kramer was a perfect three for three in new personal best times. The day was a complete team effort up and down the lineup. The B relays scored 28 team points while individual point winners included Elwick (36), Allsup (24), Miller (22) and Kirtz (22). Also scoring individual event points were Schlief, Senior Captain Carsten Zange, Sassone, Andrew Jessen, and Anthony Hilton. Another big accomplishment was the recognition of senior co-Captains, Tristan Miller and Carsten Zange, as Academic All-Conference. Behind the scenes, a big part of the team’s success came from the support of the families of the swimmers. Over the course of the year, the boys worked to raise funds and numerous parents gave of their time and money to enable the team to travel up to Decorah the night before, have a team meal and spend the night at a local hotel. Instead of a 6 AM, two and a half hour cold bus ride, the team woke up Saturday morning rested and ready to go. Certainly, the guys had to still put in the effort, but that support from the families helped placed them in a great position to succeed. The team returns to action this Saturday with Districts at Southeast Polk where they will face tough competition that includes the top-ranked team in the state, Ankeny. The top 24 times in each event from the six Districts advance to the State Meet.