SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Iowa Central swim team continued their march towards the season-ending NJCAA National Championships, picking up five first place finishes here at the Coyote Invitational hosted by the University of South Dakota.
Kyle McKenzie doubled-up, scoring gold in the 400 individual medley and 200 breaststroke, Johnathon Turner captured the 100 butterfly, Tjeerd Van Stein the 200 backstroke and the team of Gerard Ijspeert, McKenzie, Turner and Van Stein the 400 free relay.
McKenzie missed breaking the Iowa Central school record in the 200 breaststroke by .03 and also dropped nearly three seconds off his 400 individual medley. He was also the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (58.69) and 200 I.M. (1:57.58).
McKenzie recorded a time of 4:03.60 to win the 400 I.M., a mark that included four legs under 30 seconds. Van Stein and Ijspeert were second and third in the event.
In the breaststroke, McKenzie went 2:05.12 to best the runner-up by over two seconds. His final two legs of that event were clocked at 32.25 and 32.57. The freshman now ranks ninth in the 50 breaststroke, fifth in the 100 breaststroke and is also second in the 200 breaststroke and third in the 400 I.M. in school history.
Turner won the 100 butterfly in 51.48 and was also part of the runner-up 400 medley relay with Van Stein, Dylan Jones and McKenzie that finished in 3:32.94.
Van Stein claimed the 200 backstroke in 1:52.57, which included a 26.69 opening swim. He added a second in the 400 I.M. in 4:21.42. In the backstroke, Van Stein dropped a full second off his previous career best, which has him second on the all-time list.
Ijspeert is ninth in the 400 I.M. and 1,650 free in school history while Javier Santiago dropped two seconds in the 200 butterfly to move into 10th.
Andrew Iverson was second in the 1,650 in 17:05.14 with Magali Mouton placing third in the 100 breaststroke.
Lilly Wright had personal-best times in the 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke and 100 I.M. She now sits second all-time in the 100 I.M., third in the 200 breaststroke, fourth in the 100 backstroke and ninth in the 50 backstroke.
Haley Snawerdt knocked 43 seconds off her 1,650 freestyle time to move into seventh on the Top-10 list.
"As a team, we had 79 season-best times out of 108 individual events," Iowa Central head coach Joe Plane said. "We also went 8-for-8 on relays swimming season-best times.
"Our great performances this past weekend were even more remarkable due to how hard we worked every day last week. This really bodes well for how well our preparations for nationals is going."
The Tritons next swim on Saturday in Great Bend, Kan.
-By Dana Becker