IOWA CITY – With two weeks to taper before they go for their 53rd straight district swim title, the Washington boys tuned up by turning in a surprisingly strong showing at the MVC Super Meet Saturday at the University of Iowa pool.

“I’m just blown away by how well we did as a team,” said Warrior senior Nick Saulnier. “We had guys dropping two seconds, five seconds, even more off their times.

“It was crazy some of the time drops we had.”

Saulnier himself topped his season’s best in easily winning the 200 yard individual medley, and junior teammate Cameron Kelley chopped 11 seconds off in pulling an upset in the 500 freestyle.

Both also swam on the victorious 200 yard freestyle relay, helping propel Washington to third place in the overall standings behind pre-meet favorites Dubuque Senior and Iowa City West.

Senior has now won three of the last four Super Meets, while West has claimed the state championship the past two years. Still, the Warriors (runner-up at the state meet two years in a row) came within striking distance.

Dubuque Senior was the overall champ with 350 points, while West had 340. Washington totaled 305, ahead of Linn-Mar’s fourth place finish with 213. And when the scores were compiled based on division alignment, Washington took the honors in the Mississippi Division with 487 points to runner-up Dubuque Hempstead’s 368.

“Top to bottom, we did very well today,” said longtime Warrior Coach Chris Cruise. “We got great swims at the top from Nick and Cameron.

“But we also had good meets from (sophomores) Kaleb Donels and George Durin, senior Mitch Anderson and (freshman) Jeremy Throndson. And we had several younger swimmers who stepped up and did extremely well. All in all, it was a great meet.”

Saulnier, who finished second at state last year in the individual medley, got off the blocks to a fast start Saturday and won the race by nearly 10 seconds.

“I was really happy with my time, considering we haven’t even begun to taper,” he said. “My goal, though, is the state meet record that was set last year.”

Kelley, who has made steady progression in his three years at Washington, also has his eye on a state record. He said Saturday’s meet record time in the 500 free gives him loads of confidence.

The record was set last year by superstar Aidan Keen of Iowa City West, who was back Saturday to defend his title. Kelley took the lead from the start, however, and pulled away for a comfortable three-second victory, two seconds faster than the year-old meet record.

“When we started swimming against each other three years ago, Aidan was way, way ahead of me,” said Kelley, who came in third at state last year. “I finally beat him in a club race last summer. I thought if I could do it once, maybe I could do it again. And I did it.

“Now I want to do it again – at the state meet.”

Kelley finished second to Keen Saturday in the 200 yard freestyle.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior Paul Hummell finished 11th in last year’s state meet in the 100 yard breaststroke, but that was just two days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. He showed Saturday he’ll be among the favorites this year, turning in the state’s top time so far in his first-place finish. He also finished a strong second in the 50-yard freestyle.

“Both my times were person bests,” Hummell said. “So, obviously I’m very happy.

“It’s a great feeling. But my goal is to bring ‘em down even more at state.”

Fast times were not unexpected Saturday at the six-year-old Iowa pool, hosting a high school meet for the first time. Indeed, meet records were recorded in eight of 11 events.

Iowa City West broke records in the 200 yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

Keen set the mark in the 200 freestyle, while teammate Will Scott broke the mark in the 50 freestyle. Trojan junior Mark McGlaughlin set new standards in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. And Dubuque Senior senior John Colin captured the 100 yard butterfly in record time.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Dubuque Senior 350, 2. Iowa City West 340, 3. Washington 305, 4. Linn-Mar 213, 5. Hempstead 176, 6. Kennedy 175, 7. Cedar Falls 133, 8. Jefferson 126, 9. Iowa City High 125, 10. Waterloo Swim Team 101.

WINNERS

200 medley relay - Iowa City West 1:35.06*
200 free - Aidan Keen, IC West, 1:41.28*
200 IM - Nick Saulnier, Washington, 1:55.68
50 free - Will Scott, IC West, 20.78*
100 fly - John Colin, Dubuque Senior, 51.91*
100 free - Mark McGlaughlin, IC West, 45.22*
500 free - Cameron Kelley, Washington, 4:37.19*
200 free relay - Washington (Saulnier, Durin, Throndson, Kelley) 1:28.25
100 back - McGlaughlin, IC West, 50.17*
100 breast - Paul Hummell, Jefferson, 58.84
400 free relay - Iowa City West 3:05.62*

* Meet Record