The University of Iowa hosted the fastest swimmers in the state on Saturday February 10, 2018. Nine of those boys were from Pleasant Valley. Junior Kevin Burke lead the way with four qualifying events, two individually and two relays. “Getting up on the podium as an individual was a goal of mine,” Burke said. “But getting on the podium for our relays was even better.”
The energy was high and tensions could be felt in the room as swimmers waited on the starting block. The biggest meet of the year for the boys swim team. Many months of practice all leading up to this day. “It’s like no other meet, the energy in the air is just very evident, you can just sense the excitement on all the boys that are there,” head coach Stacey Zapolski stated.
The 200 Yard Medley Relay team of Nate Martell, Jacob McCredie, Kevin Burke and Nathan McKay got the day off to a hot start. While placing sixth they yet again broke their own school record, set the previous weekend at districts, with a 1:35.06. Their time was fast enough to earn an All-American consideration. “It’s a great accomplishment to earn an All-American consideration.” Martell went on to say, “Our team put in a lot of work and effort this season and I think we are all really happy with how the season went.”
The next event of the day for the Spartans was the 200 Yard Individual Medley. With sophomore Nate Martell and junior William Nash competing. Martell came in with sixteen seed and finished in twelfth with a time of 2:00.81, still in scoring position for the team. Nash swam a 1:58.69 to land on the podium in eighth place.
Burke got back to work with his second race of the day being the 50 Yard Freestyle. While coming into the weekend ranked fourth, he swam a 21.11 taking a silver medal finish, the highest placement for the Spartans of the day. “I was excited with a runner up finish and a new school record in the 50,” Burke said. Foreign exchange student, Alessandro Lomaestro would then compete in the 100 Yard Butterfly to finish 20th with a time of 54.30.
Senior Nathan McKay would be up next in the 100 Yard Freestyle. McKay would move up one place from his qualifying spot to finish seventh with a time of 47.13, putting him up on the podium. Dominik Gnad and William Nash were up next on the agenda for the 500 Yard Freestyle. Gnad finished in 5:00.28 and Nash in 4:56.57.
The next event of the day of the Spartans was the 100 Yard Backstroke with two contenders, Martell and Burke. Martell swam a time of 55.08 for a nineteenth place finish while Burke recorded a 51.66 and a fifth place finish. The 100 Yard Breastroke also had two contenders, juniors Spencer Clark and Jacob McCredie. While Clark had a time of 1:02.27, McCredie made his way onto the podium with a time of 59.93, finishing eighth even though he was in the second heat.
The final event of the day, the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, was the debut for senior Austin Hedgren, the team also consisted of William Nash, Nathan McKay and Kevin Burke. The relay finished one second faster than their qualifying time with a 3:12.71, landing them in sixth place. “That was my first time up there for the relays and it means a lot to see tour team up there with you,” Burke added.
Overall the team had a good showing at the state meet. Bringing eleven events to the competition. The boys were able to finish within the top ten for team scores finishing in eight place with a score of 122 points. Fantastic swims all around for the Pleasant Valley boys swim team and a strong finish to another season.
