SportsChiefs send swimmers to state meet
By Brad Cameron/Gate City Sports EditorThe Keokuk Chiefs will be represented in three events at the IGHSAU State Swim Meet Saturday in Marshalltown.
Senior Alicia Logan will swim the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, while junior Nicki McDowell qualified for the third straight year in the 100-yard backstroke. Both swimmers are joined by juniors Haley Fuller and Beckah Swan in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Chelsea Kies is the alternate for the relay. “Alicia is a four-year state qualifier, Nicki is a three-year state qualifier, and this is Beckah's second time qualifying in a relay, so they know what to expect. They've been there,” said Keokuk Head Coach Kelli Rose. “Haley and Chelsea are our newcomers, but it will help them to have so many of their teammates who have been up there before. It will be different for them to swim at the state meet, but all of them have been through regionals and big meets through the YMCA, so I'm sure Haley and Chelsea will feel somewhat confident coming in.” Logan caps off an outstanding high school career Saturday. She is swimming in her seventh, eighth and ninth events at the state meet. “I've got one more race left in my high school career, and then it is on to something else,” Logan said. “When I was a freshman my thoughts were I've got three more years to show them what I can do. Now it's my senior year and after this I'm done.” Logan enters Saturday's individual events 18th among the 24 swimmers to qualify in both the 50-free and the 100-free. Logan had a time of 25.60 in the 50-free and a 55.72 in the 100-free at the Iowa City Regional last week. Logan holds the school record in both individual events and has been a part of school records in all three relays. Her best finish at state is 11th in the 100-yard freestyle her sophomore season. “It's been an emotional roller coaster these last four years,” Logan said. “We've tried different techniques every year, and different ways in trying to go the fastest. Every year we've gotten kind of close, but we haven't been quite there. This year we finally got it. I kind of wish I could have done better, but my times are fast and I'm happy with that.” The five qualifiers in the 50-free finished among the top six in the same event last year. Marshalltown junior Meredith Johnson had the fastest time at regionals with a 24.12. She finished third last year at state. Des Moines Hoover senior Becca Leffler is the top returnee from last year. She finished second. Mason City junior Courtney Busch is the top qualifier in the 100-free with a time of 52.69. Johnson is the top returnee with a second-place finish last year. McDowell is coming into the state meet with a lot of confidence after an outstanding finish at the regional meet. She took third, breaking the school-record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.91. The previous record was 1:02.98 by Emily Welborn in 2000. “I was happy with my time,” McDowell said. “It's the best it has ever been. That was good and getting third was good for me too.” McDowell's time is more than two seconds better than when she placed 21st at the state meet as a freshman. Her time at state was better last year, but she finished 22nd among the 24 swimmers. McDowell's qualifying time is 14th among the 24 swimmers. She is hoping to swim under 1:02 at state. “There is such a big jump from the sophomore to junior year,” Rose said. “You really see the maturity and the confidence. I noticed it with Alicia last year. Nicki's maturity level and confidence level is up this year from last year.” McDowell also gets the chance to swim against Busch in the 100-back. Busch won the state title last year with a time of 59.06 and qualified first this year with a time of 59.03. “I've been there before, and I know a lot of the girls, so I'm excited about swimming Saturday,” McDowell said. The goal for the relay is simple. “Only one other relay has gone since I've been in high school and that was in the (200-yard medley),” Logan said. “We ended up getting last. We're hoping we can do much better with this relay.” The 200-yard freestyle relay finished sixth at regionals with a time of 1:45.60. The time broke the school record, but some on the team were not sure if it was good enough to qualify for state. “We were hoping,” Logan said. “There isn't a lot of difference between the times. I knew it was going to be really close.” Not bad for a relay that hasn't had a lot of time together this season. The Chiefs had different swimmers compete in this event throughout the season. “This relay was kind of on hold for a long time,” Logan said. “We did this one the first meet and placed pretty well, but then we kind of forgot about it until the end of the year when we picked it up again.” The Chiefs aren't happy with their times coming into the event, but Rose believes the team can cut down its time Saturday. “We know what they have in their splits,” Rose said. “Their goal is to improve everyone's splits. Everyone is capable of going a high 26 or faster and with Alicia qualifying in the 50-free her time should hopefully be even faster.” Copyright © 2010 - Daily Gate City
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