NCMP beats Scarlets

DES MOINES — NCMP’s Cardinals captured a dual swim meet Tuesday on the road. The NCMP boys defeated their hosts, the Des Moines East Scarlets, 93-77.

NCMP opened the meet by winning the 200-yard medley relay race. Jacob Knoll, Carter Briggs, Caleb Gaylor and Mason Lee combined for the victory.

The NCMP’s other medley relay team of Deklan Lewis, Jaden Dydell, Izaak Miller and Clay Meyer posted a strong third-place finish.

“Our A medley relay team is currently ranked 19th in the state, and our B relay team is very competitive with every other school’s in the state,” NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said.

Patterson said complete results were not available to report by the Newton Daily News presstime. She provided an overview of events for the Cardinals from the meet.

“Coach Knepper and I were pretty happy with this meet. First of all, we had a hard practice Monday night and the guys responded well by swimming fast,” Patterson said. “This is a busy week with four meets but nobody is complaining and they are putting in the meters.”

Adam Hunter had great race in the 200 freestyle, placing second and almost going under 2:00. Jacob Nedder swam it for the first time this year, placing third with a 2:0-7.86.

Landon Heisdorffer, freshman, had a super junior varsity race, going back and forth with the East swimmer, Patterson said. Heisdorffer placed second with a first-time swim time of 2:37.44. Parker Sherwood posted his best time by dropping six seconds and notching a 2:48.85 good for third place.

Gaylor swam the 200 individual medley for the first time this year and went a speedy 2:08.49.

“I think he surprised himself with this time. It’s not an event he necessarily trains for, but he put together a great swim,” Patterson said. “Henry Jensen, freshman, posted an excellent time of 2:33.13 and placed fourth. That was a terrific swim from him. He is so versatile that I can put him anywhere.”

Miller won the junior varsity 50 freestyle by a wide margin. Miller’s winning time of 26.61 seconds would have beaten two of East’s varsity swimmers.

“He didn’t take a breath on the last length. Izaak has tremendous talent and I think this year we are going to see him tap into that. In my opinion, he is scratching the surface of what he can do,” Patterson said.

Junior Mitch Faidley, who just started swimming last year, was second with a personal best time of 29.50. Patterson said Faidley is a humble, quiet worker who is a consistent contributor to the team.

Faidley also swam his first 500 freestyle last night. Junior Grant Freese was fifth in the junior varsity 50 freestyle with a time of 30.56.

Lee swam his first 100 butterfly of the season and posted a solid 1:09.25 swim for third place. Miller swam a personal-best time of 1:10.03 for fourth place and Meyer was fifth with a 1:10.35.

“Mason is fun to coach because he is a thinker. He works hard on technique and always analyzes his races. I also love how competitive he is. When he is behind the blocks, he is going to be ready and his teammates know they can count on him,” Patterson said. “All of flyers looked good.”

James Westbrook won the junior varsity 100 butterfly with a time of 1:26.26. Junior Dallas Schaeffer swam his first 100 butterfly race.

Patterson said Schaeffer just started swimming this year and has improved so much. She praised all the upperclassmen who joined the team this year and were willing to try something new.

Gaylor won the varsity 100 freestyle with a time of 50.07. It was the first time he swam the event this the season.

“The first 50 was a little tentative, but the back half was good. He has time to drop in this event, but looked pretty good for the first time out,” Patterson said.

Hunter took a break from the 500 freestyle and swam the 100 freestyle, posting a fast 55:87. Dydell notched fourth with a 57.48.

Grant Hamand won the junior varsity 100 freestyle with a best time of 1:04.42 and freshman Devin Lamb was hot on his heels with a 1:04.92. Juniors Elijah Sander and Kyle Hansen — both new to swimming this year —posted best times in the event by a wide margin. Sander went a 1:15.25 and Hansen went a 1:19.36.

“Our 200 freestyle relay was really exciting and they dropped about a second from their season best. We are now ranked 19th in this relay too,” Patterson said. “Adam Hunter, Mason Lee, Jacob Nedder, and Caleb Gaylor rocked a 1:36.50. Jacob Nedder had a lifetime best of 24.30 split.”

Lewis not only posted a personal-best time but won the varsity 100 backstroke with a 1:03.10.

“He is really having a tremendous year. I am seeing a determination this year that I have not seen before. I think he finally realizes what he is capable of doing. Our backstroke continues to be strong for us with Jacob Knoll placing third in a 1:04.97,” Patterson said.

The duo of Briggs and Dydell continues to post big points for NCMP in the last individual event of the meet — he 100 breaststroke. Briggs took first with a 1:07.35 while Dydell had a personal-best time of 1:08.74 for second.

“It was a great meet for all of our guys,” Patterson said. “We swim at Boone Thursday night and go to the Marshalltown Invite on Saturday.”

NCMP swims at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a dual at Boone. Saturday’s Marshalltown Invitational begins at noon.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com