Quinn MacPhail has been taking his act with 500-yard freestyle on the road for much of December. Columbus. Greensboro, N.C. Cleveland. Wherever the University senior’s act has played, it has been a hit. That continued Dec. 21 during the 50th annual Viking Invitational at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium with a performance befitting of the spotlight. As if his dominant win Dec. 7 during the prestigious Ned Reeb Invitational at Ohio State wasn’t enough of a pre-Christmas statement, MacPhail showed at Viking in another good field there’s more in reserve. 2024 News-Herald boys swimming and diving all-stars The returning first-team News-Herald all-star and D-II CSU District champion, who was fourth at state in the event as a junior, steamrolled to the 500 free crown at Viking with a time of 4 minutes, 34.73 seconds. Most years, hitting deep in the 4:30s before the new calendar year means D-II state title contention in February. MacPhail now has a 4:35.81 from Ned Reeb and a 4:34.73 at Viking to his credit before January has arrived. In 2024, the latter time would have been a comfortable third at state and is 4.86 seconds faster than MacPhail's state pace in that final. Welcome to the championship chat. "Yeah, I'm feeling really happy with where it is," MacPhail said. "I didn't expect much today. I just wanted to come out and see where I was. I swam (Junior Nationals) last week, and I was 4:34 as well. So the fact that I can stay consistent through the past three weeks is a good sign for me. And I hope I can build off that the next few weeks." PHOTOS: Viking Invitational swimming, Dec. 21, 2024 There was much to like about MacPhail's masterpiece. But what may have stood out the most was his middle-split attack. The US senior went 28.13 and 28.25 on his sixth and seventh splits. Last winter at Viking, he was working hard to break 29 there. That middle-split speed, complemented by hammers on the back end, has been a point of emphasis. "We do a lot of pace in practice," MacPhail said. "That's definitely my goal is eventually get them all down to low-to-mid 27s. But I'm happy with where I am that I can keep them that low for now. "This summer, I did a lot of training, long course here at CSU. And it really helped me get pace and be able to hold that pace. And I think, also, having my brother right there (Jake MacPhail, who was second at Viking with a 4:39.78) pushing me every step of the way, even during the summer and during the offseason. Maybe it doesn't matter as much, but we're still going at it every day. It truly helped me get to where I am now." As noted, the show has been on the road through December. In addition to Ned Reeb, he and fellow Preppers' standout Paul Moody went to Greensboro for the eastern portion of USA Swimming's Winter Junior National meet. MacPhail went 4:34.00 in 500 there as part of a four-event slate. Even getting the opportunity to dip in the pool against that caliber of competition as he zeroes in on his senior high school campaign, MacPhail could sense the uptick in his confidence. "(Ned Reeb) really helped me mentally," MacPhail said. "I can say I'm already ahead of where I was last year and that I can build off that and have a great year. "I think (Greensboro) was really helpful. It gave me some kids to race. I think going and being around all of these fast kids, see what they were going, but also seeing what I was capable of doing against these faster kids, I think it really helped me mentally." MacPhail also took home runner-up honors in 200 individual medley, hitting the wall with a 1:54.98, just about on district pace from 2024. Of note were slight drops on butterfly (24.30) and backstroke (29.42) from the D-II CSU District as a junior. He also went 47.88 as the second leg on US' 400 free relay, which took a solid third behind fellow powerhouses Cincinnati St. Xavier and St. Ignatius with a 3:11.94. Alex Pesek, who was 200 free runner-up (1:44.98), nailed down a 47.55 on the anchor. Beachwood junior Derek Fan enjoyed a breakthrough performance as he captured 100 fly. Fan will be profiled in a separate story in the coming days on News-Herald.com and in our print edition.   NDCL's Brooke Dynes took fourth in 100 breaststroke Dec. 21 during the Viking Invitational at Cleveland State. (Brian Fisher - for The News-Herald) Other News-Herald coverage individual-event top-four placers at Viking were US' Jake MacPhail (third, 200 free and second, 500 free), Brad Perry (fourth, 50 free) and Moody (second, 100 back), Gilmour's P.J. Koerwitz (fourth, 200 free), Lake Catholic's Darren Bittner (fourth, 100 free), Evan Ream (third, 500 free) and Holly Suponcic (fourth, 100 back), Hawken's Addy Pruce (fourth, 200 free) and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Brooke Dynes (fourth, 100 breast). 🏊‍♂ Here are NH area SAT invite resultsBecause it's our annual prelim/final invite day, I expanded to all 'A' & 'B' heat placers just for this weekPlus, it's the holidays 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Epz7obCDW4 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking girls 100 breast final heatHighest NH area placers:NDCL's Brooke Dynes 4th 1:07.38Gilmour's Lorelai Kaufman 5th 1:07.59 pic.twitter.com/9WZVpauEnX — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking boys 200FR final heatHighest NH area placers:Beachwood 3rd 1:27.80US 4th 1:28.55 pic.twitter.com/060gWljHgf — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024   Viking boys 200 IM final heatHighest NH area placers:US' Quinn MacPhail 2nd 1:54.98Perry's Brody Hicks 5th 1:56.37 pic.twitter.com/L3SK7cbuK4 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking boys 200 free final heatHighest NH area placers:US' Alex Pesek 2nd 1:44.98US' Jake MacPhail 3rd 1:45.33 pic.twitter.com/bPipUh5JRA — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking boys 100 free final heatHighest NH area placers:Lake Catholic's Darren Bittner 4th 47.99Gilmour's P.J. Koerwitz 5th 48.02 pic.twitter.com/OaXEr54LI9 — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024   Viking boys 100 fly final heatHighest NH area placers:Beachwood's Derek Fan 1st 49.34US' Paul Moody 6th 52.12 pic.twitter.com/RdbTaWvMtK — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking boys 100 back final heatHighest NH area placers: US' Paul Moody 2nd 50.71Perry's Brody Hicks 6th 52.60 pic.twitter.com/1vJJoPYzpr — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024 Viking boys 50 free final heatUS' Brad Perry was our lone NH area competitor here, 4th with a 21.82 pic.twitter.com/UhUgIUnYCY — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 22, 2024