The Stormin' Vikes traveled to Newton Saturday to compete in the Cardinal Invite and came home with a little hardware and a strong third-place finish.

A dominant Indianola squad, comprised of five different high schools, won handily capturing 8 of the 11 events. Second place Decorah managed one win and the Stormin Vikings claimed a pair of first-place finishes on the way to a 3rd place overall finish among the field of six teams. The two victories were Bradyn Schlief in the 50 Free and Carter Kirtz in the 100 Breast. The Medley relay of Wes Farrell, Kirtz, Ian Allsup, and Schlief took second as did the 200 Free Relay of Schlief, Logan Zearley, Kirtz, and Allsup. Other medal winning individual efforts included Kirtz and Farrell placing second in the 200 Individual Medley and 400 Free, and Ian Allsup who was 3rd in the 100 Free.

Newton's pool is a meter pool which adds to the challenge and uniqueness as the team adjusts from practicing in its 20-yard pool to swimming 25 meters per length. It's both an adjustment in time and mental approach as the events - and each lap - are 10% longer. But on the day the team recorded nearly 20 new personal best times as a number of our new swimmers stretched out to compete in more - and longer events. The team currently sits ranked 25th in the state's single classification. The Medley Relay time from Newton has the team currently seeded 16th in the state while Kirtz's 100 breast time has him ranked 4th in the state.

The team now returns to practice before heading to its next meet in Grinnell next Saturday at 11 AM. The team will face nine other schools to include 3rd ranked Linn Mar, Des Moines East, Indianola, Muscatine, Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Williamsburg, Grinnell, and Centerville.

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