State records went down in half of the events at the 2014 Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Championships Saturday, including two apiece to Allyssa Fluit and Maddie Gehrke.
Fluit, a junior out of Southeast Polk High School, was the first to strike. She took the 200 free title in 1:47.14, blasting 2.3 seconds off her own state record from a year ago. That’s the kind of time that will put Fluit, who doesn’t swim club (or at least doesn’t have any club results on USA Swimming), on the big-league map in terms of college scouting.
Fluit also won the 500 free, going 4:50.27. That took two seconds off the state record.
Gehrke, a senior for Waukee, won the 50 free and 100 back, setting new state marks in both. Her 50 time was 22.51, breaking a 7-year-old mark. She also went 54.83 in the backstroke, taking down the record of 55.87 set by current Iowa Hawkeye Maddie Bro. Gehrke has committed to the Missouri Tigers for next season.
The 100 free state record went down to Lewis Central’s MyKenzie Leehy, continuing a family dynasty. Leehy was second in the 100 free last year to her older sister Lauren. As a sophomore, MyKenzie Leehy rose to defend her older sister’s title, going 50.40 to take a half second off the state record held by another Iowa Hawkeye, Emma Sougstad.
Two seniors got over the old state record in 1-meter diving. Iowa City West’s Jacintha Thomas took the win, scoring 561.10 points. Runner-up was Maggie James of Ames, who scored 555.70 to also break the record.
Pleasant Valley took home the team title by 8 points over Ames, winning two of the last four events. First the 200 free relay of Ashton Ehrecke, Sydney Angell, Evan Hundley and Grace Stori went 1:35.96 to win the relay title for the team. That was led by Angell’s 23.43 split.
Angell, a commit to the Arkansas Razorbacks, went on to win the 100 breast, going 1:02.85.
Linn-Marr sophomore Kelsey Drake won two individual events. She took the 200 IM in a tight battle with Angell, getting the touchout 2:02.05 to 2:02.10. Drake also won the 100 fly later on in 54.79, just barely missing the state record of 54.57.
Waukee won the 200 medley relay, featuring Gehrke in a 23.58 butterfly split. Joining her were Maddy Bridges, Zoe Bussanmas and Camryn Summers. The foursome went 1:46.57.
The 400 free relay went to West Des Moines Valley’s Lauren Conte, Emily Wilson, Rachel Anfinson and Moriah Moore, led by Moore’s 51.41 anchor leg. The team went 3:31.10.
Top 5 Teams
- Pleasant Valley – 301
- Ames – 293
- Cedar Falls – 170
- Valley, West Des Moines – 159
- Linn-Mar, Marion – 156
Gehrke committed to Mizzou. She’s worthy of a feature!
Dave – she’s on our list and should have a verbal commitment story soon!
Kd- you might be right. But kids who haven’t swum club regularly have a hard time handling the training expectations of collegiate swimming. Just as many of those type athletes end up being done after their freshman year because they can’t handle training 20 hours per week. While the upside of the ‘diamond in the rough’ is alluring, the demands of DI swimming are serious. I wish her the best in what will inevitably be a bumpy transition.
Fluit does swim club… the only time she isn’t swimming is when she is doing track during the spring.
Swimmin – we weren’t able to find any results for her on USA Swimming’s database. Do you happen to know what club she competes with?
It seems likely she’s a year-round swimmer – perhaps with a summer league or a YMCA program? – but we couldn’t find any information or results to go off of.
Fluitt doesn’t swim club? Wow. That means if she does start at any point soon she won’t burn out, which means there’s really no way any college wouldn’t want her.