Hawk swimmers rebound from loss with 128-42 victory over Indianola

Ankeny’s Will Bennett (top) dives into the pool at the start of the 100 freestyle during Tuesday’s dual meet against visiting Indianola along with teammates Karsten Peters (middle) and Zane Holmen. Bennett won the event after earlier winning the 50 freestyle, helping the Hawks to a 128-42 victory. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The Ankeny boys’ swimming team didn’t receive much of a test from visiting Indianola on Tuesday.

The Hawks, though, had plenty of competition amongst themselves at Trail Point Aquatics Center.

Second-ranked Ankeny dominated the non-conference dual meet, winning 10 of the 11 events en route to a 128-42 victory. The Hawks raised their overall record to 3-1-1.

The best race of the night came in the 200 freestyle, where Ankeny’s Trent Frandson–the two-time defending state champion in that event–was nearly upset by teammate Lance Swanepoel. Frandson won the race in a time of 1:46.00, edging Swanepoel by .10 seconds.

Ankeny’s Lance Swanepoel (right) congratulates teammate Trent Frandson following a close race in the 200 freestyle during Tuesday’s meet. Frandson won the event in a time of 1:46.00, edging Swanepoel by .10 seconds. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Another Ankeny swimmer, Zane Holmen, placed third in 1:55.07. It was one of four events where the Hawks swept the top three places.

“It was good to get back in the water and swim in a meet after getting beat in our last meet (against Waukee),” said Ankeny coach Justin Crouch.

Frandson also won the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:53.59. Teammate Brek Stukerjurgen was the runner-up in 4:58.41.

Stukerjurgen later captured the 100 backstroke in 54.67 seconds. Swanepoel took the 100 butterfly in 52.10.

Will Bennett and Frandson each won four events on the night. Bennett swept the sprint events, winning the 50 freestyle in 22.13 and the 100 freestyle in 49.04.

Ankeny’s Brek Stukerjurgen (front) tries to keep pace with teammate Trent Frandson in the 500 freestyle during Tuesday’s meet. Frandson went on to win the event in a time of 4:53.59. Stukerjurgen took second in 4:58.41. (Photo courtesy of Steve Deaton)

Bennett, Frandson and Swanepoel each swam on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays. They teamed up with Owen Schwebach to win the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:30.39, then later combined with Stukerjurgen to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:21.32.

The Hawks also won the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:41.41. That team consisted of Stukerjurgen, Josh Deaton, Weston Miner and Schwebach.

Ankeny’s other victory was provided by Nathan Neppl, who won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.71. Deaton was second in 1:05.22.

Schwebach was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle in 22.78 seconds. Karsten Peters took second in the 100 freestyle in 51.76.

**Ankeny’s Owen Schwebach swims to a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly during Tuesday’s meet. He posted a time of 54.15 seconds. (Photo courtesy of Steve Deaton)**

Miner placed second in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:07.48. He was third in the backstroke in 56.88.

Indianola’s lone first-place finish came in the 200 IM. Nathan Pollard won the event in 2:03.84.

“I was proud of the effort in the win, but we know it is going to be a long week with two more meets this week,” Crouch said. “We are just trying to get guys healthy and ready for the end-of-the-season run, which right now seems like it is a long ways off but it will be here sooner than we realize.”

Ankeny will travel to Fort Dodge on Thursday for a CIML Iowa Conference dual meet against the Dodgers. The Hawks will then host a non-conference meet against No. 6 Linn-Mar (Marion) on Saturday.