Cards end year with strong finish
By Troy Hyde NDN Sports Writer
JOHNSTON — An impressive field of swimmers was just too good for Newton on Saturday.
The Cardinals placed all three relay teams on the award stand but failed to qualify a single swimmer for the boys state swim meet after taking seventh out of seven teams at the district meet at Summit Middle School.
Newton scored 65 points on the day, which was 10 points behind sixth-place Des Moines Hoover.
“The guys performed just as we trained them to,” Newton coach Dave Hook said. “They were ready mentally, and it was our best performance of the season. It was a good day, and we are just going to get better in the future.”
West Des Moines Dowling Catholic easily won the meet with 363 points and several meet records. Johnston was second with 279 points, while Des Moines Roosevelt was third at 202 points.
The Cardinals’ best finish on the day came in the 400 freestyle relay where the foursome of junior Keegan Lockhart, senior Gregor Quayle, freshman Ryan Jolivette and sophomore Matt Thoma took fifth with a time of 3:38.36.
Also getting recognition on the medal stand was the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay, which both finished in sixth place.
“We wanted to get all three relay teams on the award stand, and we were able to do that,” Hook said.
The 200 medley relay team included Quayle, senior Josh Adams, Lockhart and Thoma, and the group stopped the timer at a season-best 1:50.88.
The 200 freestyle relay squad included Adams, freshman Peder Hopkins, freshman Kyle Lockhart and freshman Lucas Norcross. The team took sixth after Council Bluffs Lewis Central was disqualified.
No other swimmers reached the medal stand for Newton, but Quayle did end up 10th in the 100 backstroke and 13th in the 200 Individual Medley. Thoma grabbed 11th place finishes in both the 50 and 100 freestyle.
“Our other goal was to get individuals in the top 12, and we managed to do that in a lot of events, too,” Hook said. “And we have a lot of our guys coming back next year.”
Keegan Lockhart was 12th in the 100 butterfly and Norcross was 14th in the 200 IM. Sophomore Alec Ubben, a Baxter High School student, came in 12th in the 100 backstroke and 15th in the 200 IM.
The team will graduate a handful of seniors, but Hook likes the young talent of his team. He said nearly every event showed significant time drop on the day.
