The seniors on the Ankeny boys’ swimming team took center stage on Thursday at Trail Point Aquatics Center.
On the team’s Senior Night, the seventh-ranked Hawks rolled to a 123-47 victory over No. 15 Johnston in a CIML Conference dual meet. The win evened their records at 2-2 in the league and 4-4 overall.
“We had a very fun and successful Senior Night!” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “I’m very proud of this group of guys we honored for all of their hard work, time, and effort they have put into the Ankeny swimming program.”
One of the seniors, Owen Schwebach, won a pair of individual events. He took the 100 butterfly in a time of 51.93 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.11.
Another senior, Owen Evans, tied for first in the 50 freestyle. He matched Johnston’s Nikolay Silkin with a time of 22.53 seconds.
“The seniors led the way tonight and were able to get a lot of wins for the team, which was awesome to watch,” Rhoads said. “Owen and Owen have (been winning events) all season for us, but Andrew (Law), Roe (Denny) and Tommy (Gilbert) were all great, too!”
Ankeny opened the meet by sweeping the top three places in the 200 medley relay–even though only the first two teams scored points. The foursome of Law, Gilbert, Schwebach and Evans won the event in 1:42.29.
Law later captured the 100 backstroke. He was clocked in 57.94, edging Denny by .2 seconds.
The Hawks got a win from Brock Peterson in the 200 freestyle. He posted a time of 1:49.53.
Finn Stukerjurgen followed with another victory in the 200 individual medley, turning in a time of 2:06.87. He later placed second in the 100 freestyle in 52.54.
Wilson Pous-Ojeda added a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle. He posted a time of 5:25.36.
Ankeny won the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:31.45, again sweeping the top three places. The winning team consisted of Schwebach, Law, Denny and Evans.
The Hawks later closed out the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:29.00. That team was comprised of Peterson, Denny, Stukerjurgen and Bryer Pearson.
“We have been training really hard preparing for this last month of the season, but the guys stepped up and posted some solid times and got the win for our seniors,” Rhoads said. “Again, I can’t thank this group enough. These seniors are a special group of guys who are great swimmers, but even better people who I’m lucky I get to coach.”
Ankeny will travel to Southeast Polk on Thursday for another conference dual meet against the Rams.
“I hope we can continue this momentum into next week and our final two dual meets of the season,” Rhoads said.
