IOWA CITY - The guys who swim for Cedar Rapids Washington know how to pose for team pictures after winning a district title.

They snap into place, display their district banner and smile happily for the cameras.

It's in their blood.

The Warriors captured their 51st district title in a row Saturday at the Mercer Aquatic Center in Iowa City, a streak that began in 1964 before Coach Chris Cruise was born.

Cruise, 43, has helped Washington win 24 of those district titles as a head coach, assistant coach and swimmer. It never gets old.

"No, it definitely doesn't," he said. "It was a great win for our kids today. We really performed well from top to bottom as a team."

The seventh-ranked Warriors finished ahead of No.5 Iowa City West, 295-274, in a spirited see-saw battle that lasted most of the afternoon.

Iowa City West won 8 of 11 events, but Washington prevailed with superior depth. The biggest evidence of that depth came in the 100 backstroke where the Warriors had swimmers finish 2nd, 6th and 7th for 28 points while the Trojans got shut out.

Washington won the meet by 21 points and outscored the Trojans by 28 in that one event, despite not winning the race.

"It's about depth," noted Washington sophomore Nick Saulnier. "All the points matter."

Saulnier won the 200 IM and Jared Thorson claimed the 100 butterfly, and the Warriors piled up a bunch of points by finishing second in seven other events. They finished first or second in nine of 11 races.

"It's all about working together as a team," said Thorson, a junior. "Everybody came through for the team today and I was really proud of everybody."

Washington will send a parade of swimmers to the state meet in Marshalltown next Saturday. The Warriors qualified in 10 events, with multiple qualifiers in five events.

"I think we set ourselves up to do some good things next week in Marshalltown," said Cruise. "That was kind of the goal going into today, to make sure we were ready for next week."

There was something for all the Metro teams at the district meet.

Calvin Greve of Linn-Mar won the 100 backstroke to help the Lions finish third in the team standings, Shawn Thomsen of Kennedy was named the District Coach of the Year for leading the young Cougars to fourth place in the standings, and Paul Hummell of Jefferson qualified for the state meet in four different races.

Saulnier, Thorson and freshman Cameron Kelley led Washington's attack Saturday, but all 14 members of the team contributed to the victory. Cruise praised what he called the team's "second and third" swimmers who helped accumulate key points.

"They're the ones who really carried the day for us," he said. "When we swim against Iowa City West, they have great individual talent at the top of their lineup. We have some kids who can kind of match them with Cameron and Jared and Nick in that group, but our second and third kids really made a big difference for us today.

"It was a total team victory for us today," he remarked.

The Warriors take a considerable amount of pride in the district winning streak, which has now passed half a century.

"It's pretty cool," said Thorson. "Fifty-one years ago, you look back on the day and see what they started."

"It's pretty awesome," Saulnier agreed. "It's a really long record. And it's great to keep it going. I'm glad to be part of it."

The Warriors have won every district title in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and the 21st Century.

"I think there's a lot of continuity with our program," said Cruise. "There's an awful lot of pride in terms of the work that we do and holding each other accountable.

"Team bonding and camaraderie certainly has something to do with it," he said. "A lot of these kids don't want to let each other down, they don't want to let the coaches down, they don't want to let their families down and the entire Washington community. They really rally around that."

Washington has won 24 state titles in school history. The Warriors will not be one of the heavy favorites for the championship in Marshalltown next Saturday, but Cruise thinks his team can do well.

"I think we set ourselves up to do some good things next week in Marshalltown," he said. "That was kind of the goal going into today, to make sure we were ready for next week.

"We're sure hoping for a top-five finish," he said. "We'll have to see how things work out."

Saulnier, Kelley, Nick Durin and Jakob Kehoe all placed second in three events for the Warriors. Sami Sheetz and Thorson had a pair of second-place showings.

Justin Arebaugh placed second in the 100 freestyle for Linn-Mar. Duggan Trenary had a productive day for the Lions, finishing third in four races.

Brennan Urbi nabbed a pair of third-place medals for Kennedy.

STATE MEET QUALIFIERS

WASHINGTON

No.2 seed - Jared Thorson, 100 fly
No.4 seed - 200 medley relay
No.4 seed - 200 freestyle relay
No.5 seed - Nick Saulnier, 100 back
No.6 seed - Cameron Kelley, 500 free
No.7 seed - Nick Saulnier, 200 IM
No.7 seed - Jared Thorson, 50 free
No.9 seed - Nick Durin, 100 breast
No.10 seed - 400 free relay
No.12 seed - Cam Bentley, 100 back
No.15 seed - Matt Jackson, 200 IM
No.17 seed - Cameron Kelley, 200 free
No.17 seed - Nick Durin, 50 free
No.21 seed - Ian McElree, 100 back
No.21 seed - Sami Scheetz, 100 breast
No.23 seed - Jakob Kehoe, 50 free
No.23 seed - Matt Jackson, 100 fly

LINN-MAR

No.4 seed - Calvin Greve, 100 back
No.8 seed - 200 freestyle relay
No.10 seed - Duggan Trenary, 100 fly
No.11 seed - Kyle McNeal, 100 back
No.13 seed - 200 medley relay
No.13 seed - Justin Arebaugh, 100 free
No.13 seed - 400 free relay
No.19 seed - Calvin Greve, 200 IM
No.19 seed - Kyle McNeal, 100 free
No.21 seed - Justin Arebaugh, 50 free
No.22 seed - Zach Hendricks, 100 fly

KENNEDY

No.5 seed - Brennan Urbi, 50 free
No.8 seed - Brennan Urbi, 100 back
No.12 seed - Stefan Kitsos, 100 breast
No.13 seed - Stefan Kitsos, 200 IM
No.20 seed - 200 medley relay
No.22 seed - 200 freestyle relay

JEFFERSON

No.11 seed - Paul Hummell, 100 breast
No.24 seed - 200 medley relay
No.24 seed - 400 free relay

DISTRICT TEAM STANDINGS

1. Washington 295, 2. Iowa City West 274, 3. Linn-Mar 239, 4. Kennedy 149, 5. Iowa City High 105, 6. Jefferson 87, 7. Ottumwa 55, 8. Grinnell/BGM 38.

DISTRICT WINNERS

200 medley relay - Iowa City West 1:36.41
200 freestyle - Aidan Keen, Iowa City West, 1:42.85
200 IM - Nick Saulnier, Washington, 1:58.71
50 freestyle - Mark McGlaughlin, Iowa City West, 21.11
100 butterfly - Jared Thorson, Washington, 51.98
100 freestyle - Mark McGlaughlin, Iowa City West, 46.61
500 freestyle - Aidan Keen, Iowa City West, 4:42.92
200 freestyle relay - Iowa City West 1:26.51
100 backstroke - Calvin Greve, Linn-Mar, 52.93
100 breaststroke - Matt Anderson, Iowa City West, 59.64
400 freestyle relay - Iowa City West 3:14.95

WASHINGTON DISTRICT PLACEWINNERS

2nd - 200 medley relay (Saulnier, Scheetz, Durin, Kehoe) 1:37.74
2nd - Cameron Kelley, 200 free, 1:48.23
2nd - Cameron Kelley, 500 free, 4:50.30
2nd - 200 free relay (Kehoe, Durin, Scheetz, Thorson) 1:28.06
2nd - Nick Saulnier, 100 back, 52.95
2nd - Nick Durin, 100 breast, 1:00.90
2nd - 400 free relay (Kehoe, Kelley, Thorson, Saulnier) 3:17.64
4th - Matt Jackson, 200 IM, 2:01.63
4th - Jared Thorson, 50 free, 21.81
5th - Eric Roush, 200 free, 1:52.65
5th - Matteo Tormene, 500 free, 5:16.19
6th - Matteo Tormene, 200 free, 1:53.51
6th - Nick Durin, 50 free, 22.21
6th - Matt Jackson, 100 fly, 54.96
6th - Ian McElree, 100 free, 50.41
6th - Cam Bentley, 100 back, 54.83

LINN-MAR DISTRICT PLACEWINNERS

2nd - Justin Arebaugh, 100 free, 48.92
3rd - 200 medley relay (McNeal, Decker, Hendricks, Roggendorf) 1:40.15
3rd - Duggan Trenary, 200 free, 1:51.74
3rd - Duggan Trenary, 200 fly, 53.78
3rd - Ryan Evans, 500 free, 5:10.49
3rd - 200 free relay (Arebaugh, Ramsey, Trenary, Roggendorf) 1:28.89
3rd - 400 free relay (Arebaugh, Hendricks, Trenary, McNeal) 3:18.64
4th - Kyle McNeal, 100 free, 49.27
4th - Hogan Myers, 500 free, 5:14.38
5th - Calvin Greve, 200 IM, 2:02.88
5th - Zach Hendricks, 100 fly, 54.92
5th - Kyle McNeal, 100 back, 54.66

KENNEDY DISTRICT PLACEWINNERS

3rd - Stefan Kitsos, 200 IM, 2:00.03
3rd - Brennan Urbi, 50 free, 21.67
3rd - Brennan Urbi, 100 back, 54.12
4th - 200 free relay (Urbi, Schoenauer, Batterson, Kitsos) 1:31.79
4th - Stefan Kitsos, 100 breast, 1:01.18
5th - 200 medley relay (Urbi, Kitsos, Schoenauer, Gibson) 1:42.58
5th - 400 free relay (Batterson, Schoenauer, gibson, Zange) 3:30.80

JEFFERSON DISTRICT PLACEWINNERS

3rd - Paul Hummell, 100 breast, 1:01.07
4th - 400 free relay (L.Hummell, Martin, Homan, P.Hummell)
6th - 200 medley relay (Schmuecker, P.Hummell, Homan, L.Hummell) 1:44.68
6th - Max McChesney, 500 free, 5:18.31
6th - 200 free relay (L.Hummell, Martin, Homan, P.Hummell) 1:33.27