Some of the schools that left the Central Iowa Metropolitan League were hoping to be more competitive in the new Alliance Conference.
A few of the individual teams, though, were already very competitive–such as the Ames girls’ swimming squad. The Little Cyclones won nine state titles in a span of 11 years before placing second behind Waukee at last year’s state meet.
On Thursday, fourth-ranked Ames visited Trail Point Aquatics Center for a non-conference dual meet against No. 6 Ankeny. The Little Cyclones won nine of the 12 events and posted a 104-66 victory.
The Hawkettes racked up a season-high 3,325 power points in the loss, which dropped their overall record to 1-4.
“Looking through the results, I noticed a mixed bag,” said Ankeny coach Justin Crouch. “We had some very good swims as well as some swims that we could improve on. Throughout all of the hard work and soreness, we were able to have a season-high in power points. That was definitely something that was unexpected, but reflecting after the meet I saw a lot of things that are showing signs of progress.”
Ankeny’s first win came in the diving event, where Hannah Kolars placed first with a score of 240.55 points. Teammate Lydia Boehlert took third with a total of 204.90.
Rachel Rolow later won the 100 backstroke for the Hawkettes. She posted a time of 1:00.47.
Rolow then anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay. She teamed up with Josie Parton, Charlotte Huebsch and Anja Peck to turn in a time of 3:45.10.
Rolow earlier placed second in the 200 individual medley in 2:13.04. Peck took third in that event in 2:16.76.
Peck was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke. She was clocked in 1:08.45.
Parton placed third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:02.65. She later took second in the 100 freestyle in 55.94.
Lindaman was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle in 25.70. She then placed third in the 100 freestyle in 56.47.
Ankeny’s Caroline Walker took third in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.73. The Hawkettes also got a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle from Sydney Madetzke, who was clocked in 5:42.24.
Ankeny opened the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Rolow, Peck, Walker and Lindaman posted a time of 1:53.40.
The Hawkettes later took second in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Parton, Lindaman, Huebsch and Walker turned in a time of 1:44.14.
“I saw noticeable improvements in our straight starts as well as relay exchanges, attacking the walls, and finishing off races,” Crouch said. “I have been hounding the girls about doing the little things well. As we get down to the end of the season, what separates state qualifiers from regional qualifiers are the girls that do the little things well. As we start wrapping up the end of our season, I want my team to be known as the team that takes that attention to detail seriously and does everything they can to do the little things better than everyone else.”
The Hawkettes will host a CIML Conference dual meet against Johnston on Tuesday at Trail Point. The Dragons were ranked fifth but dropped to sixth, one spot below Ankeny, following Thursday’s meet.
