Ankeny boys’ swimming coach Justin Crouch always enjoys going back to his old stomping grounds.
Thursday’s visit to the Dowling Catholic pool was especially enjoyable for the former Maroons’ swimmer.
Crouch guided the Hawks to a 105-65 victory over Dowling in their season opener.
“With everything going on and the unknown of if or when we would get to swim this season with everything going on, it was absolutely great to get back into the pool,” said Crouch. “Then to go to a place that is so special to me and perform the way we did ranks up there as one of the best dual meets that I have had the opportunity to be a part of.”
Ankeny won seven of the 11 events in a dual meet that featured two of the top six teams from last year’s state meet, where the Hawks placed second and the Maroons finished sixth.
Crouch’s team won two of the three relays, beginning with a sweep of the top three places in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Brek Stukerjurgen, Hudson Griffin, Weston Miner and Will Bennett won that event in a time of 1:42.55.
“The 200 medley relays got us off to a good start and the team just fed off that energy and continued to have great swims,” Crouch said.
Stukerjurgen had four wins on the night. He captured the 200 individual medley in a time of 1:57.97, then later took the 100 backstroke in 53.50 seconds.
Stukerjurgen then anchored Ankeny’s 400 freestyle relay to a victory in the final event of the meet. He teamed up with Lance Swanepoel, Owen Schwebach and Karsten Peters to post a time of 3:18.27.
Stukerjurgen swam the final 100 yards in 47.79 to hold off Dowling’s Joey Hancock, who had earlier swept the 200 and 500 freestyle events and also swam on the winning 200 freestyle relay. The Maroons were clocked in 3:18.36.
“It was really unexpected that we swam so well after the shutdown,” Crouch said of the two-week break from practices while Ankeny switched to virtual classes. “It is just a tribute to the hard work these boys put in not only during the high school season but throughout the year.”
Swanepoel won the 100 butterfly in 53.67. He also took second in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.72 and anchored the second-place 200 freestyle relay.
Bennett took the 50 freestyle in 22.41. He was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle in 49.51.
Nathan Neppl had the Hawks’ other victory. He won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.72.
Schwebach was second in the 50 freestyle in 23.03. He was also the runner-up in the 500 freestyle in 4:58.74.
Anders Peterson took second in the butterfly in 55.22. Miner finished second in the backstroke in 57.71.
The Hawks competed without their best swimmer. Senior Trent Frandson, a four-time state champion, is expected to miss the first three meets of the season.
“With the shutdown the last couple of weeks, Trent left town to find training,” Crouch said. “He is enrolled in Ankeny doing online school as his family has some high risk. He will be back over winter break.”
Ankeny will travel to Ames on Monday for a dual meet against the Little Cyclones.
