NCMP boys set for cool runnings at state

Out of the five NCMP swimmers qualified for the 2018 Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys’ State Swim Meet, one has state meet experience.

Senior Jacob Knoll qualified as a sophomore as a member of the NCMP 200-yard freestyle relay. That relay team finished 18th at state in 2016. Knoll is a member of two qualified NCMP Cardinal relays this year.

Caleb Gaylor, the other senior among those qualified, goes to his first state swim meet with the top time in the 50-yard freestyle. His passion and joy for the sport bubbles over to help lead the Cardinal team.

“I’m so excited. It’s different this time for me,” Knoll said. “To be going as a senior is amazing. All those early mornings of practice are worth it now.”

Knoll, Gaylor, juniors Mason Lee and Carter Briggs and sophomore Jacob Nedder are preparing this week to do well at the 2018 state meet on Saturday in Iowa City.

Knoll, Gaylor and Lee are qualified on two relay teams — the 200 freestyle and the 200 medley relay. Briggs is on the freestyle relay and Nedder swims on the freestyle relay.

Gaylor captured a district championship in the 50-yard freestyle last Saturday, posting the fastest qualifying time in 21.00 seconds, which was a NCMP record. He also qualified for state in the 100 butterfly. Briggs will be competing in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Adam Hunter is the NCMP alternate swimmer for the meet.

The state meet is in a new venue — the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center natatorium on the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The championships start at 12:30 p.m. following the Iowa Swimming Coaches Association Awards, the parade of teams and the National Anthem.

The previous 13 boy’s state meets were hosted at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA, which followed a 19-year run at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse.

“I didn’t make it last year and it made me a little upset which motivated me to do what I could do this season. I realized my true God-given talents were and I really worked hard,” Gaylor said. “I never thought I could have the top time in the 50 overall. When I won that race at district, I was amazed and couldn’t control myself in my reaction.”

Gaylor is seeded No. 1 in the 50 freestyles and sixth in the butterfly with a time of 52.62 seconds. Briggs has the 22nd fastest time in the 100 breaststroke at 1:02.65. The Cardinals’ 200 freestyle sits at 12th fastest at 1:29.75 and the medley is 17th fastest at 1:40.74. All the times for NCMP events were season’s bests.

“We had a great district meet. These guys are such a tight knit group and last Saturday they just decided ‘we’re going to swim fast,’” NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said. “Of course, Caleb’s win the 50 was the highlight. He just has so much joy when he is swimming

“And for Carter to get in as an individual was great after watching him chip away all season on his time in the breaststroke. To see kids achieve their goals is absolutely why Quin (Knepper) and I coach.”

Patterson said the medley relay is in the first of three heats at state swimming in the middle of the pool. She said its a good position for the Cardinal relay.

“We can only move up in the event. Watching the medley relay at district was cool because it has been a solid relay for us all season,” Patterson said. “We’ve been ranked in that one most of the season. I see room for improvement because I know Mason really wants to go under 22 (seconds) for his anchor leg.”

The pool at Iowa City is going to be a faster pool for the 195 swimmers from 36 schools, Patterson said. She said the new pool at Trail Point Trail Aquatics and Wellness Center in Ankeny for districts was a great pool, but she expects the Iowa City pool to allow for even faster times.

Knoll swims the opening leg for both NCMP relays. He begins the medley with the 50 backstroke. He said he was a bit nervous starting the relays at last week’s district week.

“I did feel comfortable with the medley because we’d been practicing all week. We all dropped times in our splits for both relays,” Knoll said. “My goal for state is to continue to drop time. We’re all close together and think of ourselves as a family.”

Lee said he is glad he is going to state on the two relays, but still wants more.

“It’s the first step to me — qualifying for state — but it’s underwhelming for us because I want to accomplish something at state,” Lee said. “I’m happy to be going with this group of guys.”

Lee swims the anchor freestyle leg for the medley relay. He is the third swimmer in the 200 freestyle relay. He said he likes the anchor because he knows right where the competition is and what position his team is in when he dives in.

“It gives me a little more energy coming off the blocks. In the freestyle relay at district, we wanted to reach the podium and compete with the big schools there. We did get high on the podium (fourth) and had our fastest time, which got us to state showing we can compete against the bigger schools,” Lee said.

Lee said his goal for state is to keep improving in dropping time in his splits on the relays. He said last year he finally began to really enjoy competing in swimming. Lee said as freshman he wasn’t sure of the sport.

“As the culture of the team evolved last year, I realized this (swimming) was what I wanted to be doing,” Lee said.

Gaylor has been a leader in the water and out of it for NCMP this season. He will be swimming in four events at the state meet for the Cardinals — the butterfly leg of the medley relay, the 50, the 100 butterfly and the anchor leg of the 200 freestyle relay. The 50 freestyle is contested before a break in the action then the first race back is the butterfly.

“There’s a little bit of pressure doing those two races, but I get as much rest as I do between the medley and the 50. I was a little fatigued for the butterfly at district, which means I know I can do better at state,” Gaylor said.

Gaylor is confident the NCMP relays will do better at Saturday’s state meet. He said he believes the foursomes have not hit their best times yet.

“This group of guys just keep pushing ourselves. It different than any other relays I’ve been on before. It’s such a team mentality of not wanting to let each other down is pushing us. I know it is pushing me to do my best and help inspire other people,” Gaylor said. “We can hit some of the faster times because we’ve worked hard and our hearts are in it.”

Briggs swims the breaststroke leg of the medley relay. He said the relay had been ranked in the top 20 going into the district so the NCMP foursome was counting on put together a good swim at district to qualify for state. As an individual in the breaststroke, he was ranked 29th in the state and the top 24 times qualify for the state meet.

“I knew I was going have to drop quite a bit of time if I wanted to make the cut. I dropped almost two seconds and moving up seven places to qualify,” Briggs said. “We’ve been swimming almost the same four all season and have come together in our chemistry. We’ve worked a lot on our starts and finishes.”

Briggs said as Knoll swims toward him on the opening leg — the backstroke — he sets his feet on the starting block and gets mentally prepared to dive in and swim fast on the medley relay. As far as his individual race, he said he tries not to think about what other people swim.

“I focus on improving my own time. You can’t control how fast other people swim, but only how fast you swim,” Brggs said.

Patterson said the 200 freestyle relay team at district was phenomenal. At the state meet, the Cardinals will swim in the second of three heats.

“To watch Jacob Nedder turn it in a 22.9 split was great. He was a good swimmer for us last year and scored points for us, but he dropped the hammer Saturday in all of his events,” Patterson said. “Jacob Knoll made a minor adjustment and went a 22.9 after not swimming last year for us. It was fun to watch.”

Nedder said at the start of the season there was a fair amount of shuffling around of swimmers for the NCMP relays. He said when it was finalized to these four for the 200 freestyle he knew it was a fast relay.

“At the time, I didn’t know state was possible for us but swimming really fast was,” Nedder said. “For a relay, it’s about figuring the timing of the start and finishes of each leg. We’ve really worked hard and it paid off at district for us. For me going into district it was about getting to state so my mentality going into state is to go really fast.”

Hunter realizes he probably won’t be swimming at the state meet as the team alternate, but he is happy to be going as a team member. He said as a junior it will be a good experience for him to see what a state meet is like and plan for a run for himself to qualify next year.

“This is a fun group of guys who enjoy working together. They are a family and we’re excited to see what they can do on Saturday in the state meet,” Patterson said.

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