March 29, 2024

Cardinals break 400m freestyle relay record

Image 1 of 2

NEWTON — Tired from their previous events of the meet, Newton’s Austin Bunker, Josh Bailey, Isaak Webb and Jake Lensing found enough and more to break a school record, winning the 400-meter freestyle relay Tuesday.

In their home pool — the Newton YMCA — the Cardinal quartet went for the record in the final race of the night against West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. They got it by more than a second.

Newton won the race in 3 minutes, 52.18 seconds, which was three seconds in front of the Maroons’ foursome in 3:55.51. Bunker, Bailey, Webb and Lensing broke the previous NHS 400-meter freestyle record of Lucas Greta, Stephen Daniels, Blake Squire and Will Quayle of 3:53.97 in 2007.

“It went well. We figured out beforehand what our splits needed to be to break the record,” said Jake Lensing, who anchored the 400. “At the 200 mark, we were down three seconds, so I was surprised we broke it. I’m also excited about it.”

Swimming the third leg was Isaak Webb, who was able to get the lead for Newton for good. Bunker led off with a strong first leg and Josh Bailey took over from there. Both swimmers battled the Dowling Catholic swimmers as the lead bounced back and forth.

“We were all tired from our other events, but together we got it done,” Webb said.

“We decided we wanted to go after it (the record). Coach (David Hook) put this relay together and said he believed we had a chance to set the record,” Bunker said. “It’s great to have another school record.”

“It feels good to get a record here at home. All of us swam hard tonight. I was tired and wasn’t sure if I could do it but we pulled together,” Bailey said.

Lensing, Bucker and Webb each claimed wins in individual events for the Cardinal varsity. Dowling Catholic won the dual, 105-65, but all the talk was about the new record and how well the team performed.

“It was a great meet for our kids. I worked them hard this week with a lot of minutes in practice,” said Cardinal head coach David Hook. “We were a bit tired and it effected some of the times, but I was pleased with what I saw from all of our swimmers.”

The Cardinals opened and closed the meet with winning relay races. Aaron King, Webb, Bunker and Lensing combined to win the 200-meter medley relay race in 1:57.78. Lensing finished second in the 200-meter freestyle race in 2:12 then came back after a break to win the “sprint” — the 50-meter freestyle.

“It was a decent time (25.79 seconds). It wasn’t my best and it wasn’t my worst,” Lensing said. “I felt kind of tired today so I’m happy with it and the win.”

Going from the shortest race of the meet to the longest race, the Cardinals’ Bunker pulled away from the field in the 400-meter freestyle. Bunker finished the distance race in 4:40.11, four seconds ahead of Noah Saluri of Dowling Catholic.

“Endurance racing is what I do the best I think. I like the mental aspect of the longer races,” Bunker said. “I got out strong and set a steady pace for myself.”

Webb has entrenched himself as the Cardinals’ top breaststroke swimmer. He wasn’t even pushed by anyone, finishing a full 10 seconds ahead of a Maroons’ swimmer. Webb won the 100-meter breaststroke race in 1:11.67.

“The breaststroke is my best race. I just went out strong tonight,” Webb said.

Dowling Catholic won the junior varsity dual, 110-17. Paul Maharry finished third in the 100-meter breaststroke for Newton and Reese Rosenquist was third in the 200-meter freestyle. Maharry combined with Jacob Thomas, Zach Theis and Logan Heisdorffer to place third in the 200-meter medley relay.

Newton travels to Marshalltown for a dual on Thursday to wrap up pre-Christmas competition.

Newton vs. Dowling Catholic

Varsity (Newton results)

Team scores: Dowling Catholic 105, Newton 65

200-m medley relay: 1. Newton (A. King, Webb, Bunker, Lensing), 1:57.78, 4. Newton (DeHart, Fitzgerald, Rosenquist, L. King), 2:14.09.

200-m freestyle: 2. Lensing, 2:12.13, 5. Laube,2:36.58, 6. Zach Theis, 2;44.73.

200-m individual medley: 4. L. King, 2:51.28, 5. DeHart, 3:06.33, 6. Norcoss, 3:12.39.

50-m freestyle: 1. Lensing, 25.79, 4. Fitzgerald, 28.14, 6. Thomas, 33.27.

100-m butterfly: 1. Bunker, 1:02.91, 4. L. King, 1:14.84, 6. Laube, 1:20.57.

100-m freestyle: 3. Bailey, 1:01.34, 5. Rosenquist, 1:12.21, 6. Theis, 1:17.84.

400-m freestyle: 1. Bunker, 4:40.11, 5. A. King, 5:07.72, 6. Thomas, 5:50.80.

200-m freestyle relay: 2. Newton (Webb, Bailey, Fitzgerald, A. King), 1:48.26, 5. Newton (Theis, Rosenquist, Heisdorffer, Laube), 2:07.52.

100-m backstroke: 3. Bailey, 1:12.83, 5. A. King, 1:16.35, 6. DeHart, 1:25.62.

100-m breaststroke: 1. Webb, 1:11.67, 4. Fitzgerald, 1:21.91, 6. Norcoss, 1:30.67.

400-m freestyle relay: 1. Newton (Bunker, Bailey, Webb, Lensing), 3:52.18 (new NHS record), 5. Newton (DeHart, Laube, Thomas, L. King), 4:38.16.

Junior Varsity (Newton results)

Team scores: Dowling Catholic 110, Newton 17.

200-m medley relay: 3. Newton (Thomas, Theis, Heisdorffer, Maharry), 2:33.25.

200-m freestyle: 3. Rosenquist, 2:54.

50-m freestyle: 4. Zaabel, 34.95.

100-m freestyle: 4. Maharry, 1:21.77, 5. Zaabel, 1:24.59.

400-m freestyle: 4. Heisdorffer, 6:06.12.

100-m breaststroke: 3. Maharry, 1:35.28.

400-m freestyle: 4. Newton (Maharry, Heisdorffer, Zaabel, Norcross), 5:25.71.