The Pleasant Valley boys’ swim team is known for many things around school, ranging from their bleached blond hair before their championship meets to their funny and creative posters each season. However, after this season, the boys should also be recognized for their accomplishments in the water at their meets.
Throughout the regular season, the Spartans won nearly all of their dual meets, falling only to Burlington and tying with Bettendorf. In addition, they were victorious at both the Cedar Falls Invite and the Burlington Invitational. They also took second place at the Linn-Mar Invite.
Jacob McCredie, sophomore, said, “It was great to see all of our hard work pay off throughout the season. It can be really hard to get through all of the difficult practices, so it was nice to see that they were actually helping us get better.”
The boys were confident going into their district’s meet and were happy to see their hard work pay off. Ultimately, they defeated Bettendorf to capture the team title for the first time. Alex Wong, senior, said, “Everyone really stepped up to the plate this season, and it really showed at the end of the season when we won both JV MAC and Districts.”
Individual victories for the Spartans came from Sam Lundry, senior, in the 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle relay team consisting of Nathan McKay, junior; Dylan Hartford, senior; Wong; and Kevin Burke, sophomore.
On Saturday, Feb. 11, nine swimmers will compete in the state meet. Team members include Wong, Lundry, Burke, Hartford, McKay, and McCredie, who were all mentioned above. Joining them will be Will Nash, sophomore; Vincent Gnad, senior; and Austin Collins, senior. Wong said, “Everyone is really excited to go to state. Our main goals are to drop time and place our relays in the top eight.”
According to the QuikStats Iowa Power Ranking, the boys are going into the meet ranked eleventh in the state, only two spots behind the Bettendorf team. They have competitors in eight of the eleven events.
