Sports : Rusty Garst Invitational Results (Fort Dodge)

It was a long way to go for the Viking swimmers but the results were well worth the trip.  On Saturday, the Vikes ventured to Fort Dodge for an opportunity to swim against some great competition and different teams at the annual Rusty Garst Invitational.  Facing strong opponents from Fort Dodge, Carroll, Sioux City and Waterloo West, the continuously improving Vikings performed well earning an eighth place finish.  This is a very competitive meet; there was more talent here than any meet we have competed in to date and as much as we will face at districts.  It was a great opportunity for our guys.

Down to only 10 swimmers due to State Jazz Band and a choir competition, the Vikings turned in some great individual performances, registering 17 new personal best times, led by four new best times from John Levis and three from rapidly improving first-year swimmer Marshall Mullenix.  Marshall dropped 1.3 seconds off his 50 back, just under a full second on his 50 free and then an astounding 7.03 seconds in the 100 back.  Anthony Dickerson, Ben Weekly, CJ Fowler, Drake Tilson and John Eden also registered two new personal best times each with Drake and CJ each taking more than 3 seconds off their 100 free times.  Other than John Levis and Ben Weekly, who are seniors, every one of those guys will be back next year.

The Viking squad also registered their top times of the year in both the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Free Relay. 

In addition to seeing a great deal of personal improvement, the Vikings also brought home some hardware from Fort Dodge.  Swimming against state-caliber competition, John Levis medalled twice, finishing third in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 breast.  John dropped 2.83 seconds in the fly and, swimming the breast for the first time this year, sliced 4.58 seconds from his best time last season.  He also took more than a second off his 50 fly and swam his best 50 free of the season as part of the 200 Free Relay team.