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Swimming at home is always a good thing. The NCMP Cardinal boys know the Newton YMCA pool better than the other seven teams in the North Central Iowa Swim Conference.
On Saturday, the Cardinals are looking for their home pool advantage to pay dividends when they host the 2017 NCIC swim meet. The other conference teams are Boone, Decorah, Grinnell, Oskaloosa, Vinton-Shellsburg, Williamsburg and newcomer Indianola.
Races begin at 10 a.m. at the YMCA. Admission is $5 per person.
It is the third annual NCIC boys’ conference meet. NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson has coached the NCMP girls’ swim team to NCIC championships over the years, but this will be her first boys’ meet as head coach.
“Our guys like swimming at home. I’m hoping they get fired up to challenge Indianola,” Patterson said. “We’re third among the conference teams according to the state power point rankings. Boone is first, Indianola is second and then us. We were very close to Indianola here in our invitational in December. Both teams have improved since then, so it should be exciting on Saturday.”
The Cardinals finished third as a team a year ago and shone five event championships. This year’s squad has a different lineup, but Patterson sees potential of having a strong day in the conference meet Saturday.
“It’s our pool. We know the walls, the blocks and we know it the best. We haven’t hit that next gear yet this season. I would like to see it come together for the guys here at the end of the season,” Patterson said.
Junior Caleb Gaylor is expected to be seeded first in his two individual events — the 200 and 500 meter freestyle races, Patterson said. Sophomore Adam Hunter has come on strong in those two events as well, she said.
Both Gaylor and Hunter will see action on a couple of relays for NCMP. Senior Clay Trotter has done well in the sprint races for the Cardinals and look for him to be competitive in the 50 freestyle as well as relays.
“A second separates the top three teams in the 200 freestyle relay and we’re one of those teams. I told the guys we could be happy in third place as a team in the meet or they could decide to make things happen in events,” Patterson said. “Our 400 freestyle relay is about four or five seconds behind Boone and Indianola. I don’t think we’ve put together the ultimate race where all four guys have great times in the same race.”
Seniors Logan Heisdorffer and Paul Maharry are two steady contributors for NCMP. Heisdorffer will swim the 100 and 200 freestyle events and relays while Maharry will go in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke along with relays. Patterson said both swimmers have worked hard and are focused in on improving each time out.
Three other seniors — Nick Ver Steeg, Logan Zaabel and Spencer Elbert — will be swimming in freestyle races and on relays for NCMP. Zaabel is back out after taking two years off from the sport while Ver Steeg and Elbert are first-time team members.
“Nick has cracked the varsity lineup and will swim in the 50 freestyle for us as will Spencer. Logan will be in the 100 free. These three have worked hard this season,” Patterson said. “Sophomore Mason Lee is our top butterfly swimmer and provides strong swims on relays.”
Patterson said with the new timing system, scoreboard and speaker system at Newton’s YMCA, it should be a great atmosphere Saturday. She said there will be a podium for place winners to stand on following races.
“For our team, I’d like our guys to go beyond what we think is possible and push past the threshold to see what they can do, what they’ve been trained to do,” Patterson said. “I’m super excited to see our guys compete at the conference meet.”
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com