Sports : Viking swimmers split with Decorah, Waterloo East

Another tight meet for the Viking swimmers resulted in another come from behind victory to secure a split Tuesday night in Waterloo against host Waterloo East and Decorah. The Vikings edged the East Trojans 85 to 82 while falling to Decorah 134 -35.

Top overall finishers for Vinton-Shellsburg were Matt Upmeyer with a 2nd in the 50 Free and 4th in the 100 Back. Fellow senior Anthony Dickerson registered a 3rd in the 200 Free and 4th in the 100 Free.

As it was last week in the Vikings home victory over East, the battle with the Trojan’s was neck and neck from start to finish. East jumped out to a quick lead after the Medley Relay, but strong swims in the 200 and 50 Free events put Vinton-Shellsburg up 31-29 at the first break. The middle part of the meet played to a few areas of strength for East and when the Trojans edged the Vikings by less than a second in the 200 Free Relay, the Vikes looked to be in trouble as East led at the second break 64-57. In the last three events the Vikings superior depth allowed them to climb back within three by seizing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in both the 100 Back and 100 Breast. Entering the final event, Vinton-Shellsburg trailed 78-75 needing to take at least first and third against Waterloo in the 400 Free Relay. And just like last week in Vinton, the Vikings delivered again with the A relay team of Dickerson, Upmeyer, Caleb Kruckenburg and Ryan Levis defeating East by nearly a minute. The B relay of Dylan Geater, Kyle Schemmel, Lewis Williams and Alex Dick easily captured third, falling a mere 2.5 seconds behind the East A relay.

Once again the Viking swimmers continued to shed time with 20 new personal best times, led by three each from sophomores Alex Dick and Ben Eden and freshmen Dylan Geater, Tyler Hekel and Lewis Williams.

Next week will be busy for the Vikings beginning Tuesday they will be at Cedar Rapids Washington for the Missouri Valley Conference Supermeet. On Thursday the Vikes return to their home pool at the Iowa Braille School for a 4:30 dual meet with Decorah before finishing the week Saturday in Decorah with an invitational.

See results HERE.