Martin sets more school records as Newton swim team wins home invitational

Finn Martin seems to set a school record every time he jumps into the pool these days.

The Newton senior added another one to the list on Saturday, and his two individual wins and four total victories powered the Newton boys swim team to the Cardinal Invitational championship for the second straight season.

Ethan Comer and Hudson Meyer also won twice as individuals as the Cardinals won their home invitational with 350 points. That 32 more than they scored last year as the meet champion.

Indianola (291) was second for the second straight season and the rest of the five-team field included Oskaloosa (267), Grinnell/BGM (169) and Vinton-Shellsburg (64).

Newton won 10 of the 11 events and swam to victory in all three relays. The Cardinals won the 200-meter medley relay by 10 seconds, won the 200 freestyle relay by 6 seconds and the 400 freestyle relay by 21 seconds.

Martin opened his day with a win in the 50 freestyle. He hit the wall in 23.72 seconds.

He bested his own school record in the 400 freestyle. His winning time was clocked in 4 minutes, 16.86 seconds. Blaine Brooks finished third in 5:29.4.

Comer won the 200 individual medley in 2:30.41 and then swam to a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:15.9. Kaden Marshall placed third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:26.91.

Meyer, who competed under the weather, won the 100 freestyle in a career-best 59.44 seconds. He also took first in the 10 backstroke in 1:08.16.

The other individual win came from Caleb Punt. He claimed victory in the 200 freestyle in 2:15.72 and Trace McClellan was fourth in 2:45.73.

Punt’s runner-up time in the 100 butterfly was clocked in 1:07.58.

Meyer, Comer, Brody Van Zee and Punt teamed up to win the 200 medley relay in 2:01.01.

Martin, Marshall, Heath Anderson and Comer took the 200 freestyle relay in 1:47.97 and Martin, Drew Lamont, Meyer and Punt swam to the win in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:01.65.

Newton 87, Indianola 75

The Cardinals won nine events, Martin collected two more school records and Newton’s boys swim team sunk Indianola during its home opener on Tuesday.

Newton won a pair of relays and Martin, Comer and Punt both won two individual events. That helped the Cardinals edge the Indians, who were 2-3-4 in four different events.

Meyer, Comer, Van Zee and Punt opened the night with a win in the 200 medley relay. The foursome was clocked in 2:02.5.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Martin, Comer, Meyer and Punt won the race in 4:04.76.

Martin bested his own school record in the 200 freestyle with a new career-best time of 1:57.27. Brooks (2:37.96) and McClellan (2:43.2) were 3-4 in the event.

Martin added the 100 meter butterfly to his list of school records. Indianola went 2-3-4 in the event, but Martin won the race in a school-record time of 56.55.

The previous record holder was Isaak Webb, who swam to a time of 58.25 in 2015.

Comer (2:33.06) and Meyer (2:44.98) finished 1-3 in the 200 IM and Comer (1:17.35), Anderson (1:28.36) and Marshall (1:28.61) went 1-2-3 in the 100 breaststroke.

Meyer won the 100 backstroke in 1:08.78 and Punt claimed his two wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle. His winning times were clocked in 26.43 and 1:01.1, respectively.

The only event Newton did not win was the 400 freestyle, but Brooks (5:36.53) and McClellan (5:53.02) finished second and third, respectively.