There’s still a lot of work to do, but the Ankeny girls’ swimming team could be in position to earn another top-10 finish at the state meet.
The seventh-ranked Hawkettes placed second in a regional meet on Saturday at Mason City. They finished with 401.5 points in the eight-team field, while No. 1 Dowling Catholic easily claimed the title with 546.5.
“We had a great day at the pool!” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “It was fun to see the girls be confident and swim fast. We had great competition that helped push us to mostly all season-best times and a lot of lifetime bests. I was very excited we qualified nine of the 13 swimmers who competed, and we will be taking a big group to the state meet!”
Ankeny senior Gracie Lindaman qualified in two individual events. Seven of her teammates also qualified as individuals, while Kyra Zinn qualified in a pair of relays.
“Our team absolutely crushed it. I’m so proud of everyone,” said Lindaman. “A couple of girls who were on the edge of making it swam their hearts out and ended up qualifying for the state meet. Watching them push through and succeed was so exciting.”
Lindaman tied for third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.97 seconds. She placed fourth in the 100 freestyle in 54.72.
“This meet was so much fun!” Lindaman said. “I was super happy with my times and feel like I’m in a really good spot mentally and physically right now. I know that once I finish up my taper this week, I’ll be ready to roll at state and hopefully get into two finals!”
Madison Trosper also qualified for state in the 50 freestyle. She placed fifth in 25.31.
Paige Spoelstra will join Lindaman at state in the 100 freestyle. She took fifth in that event in 56.25.
Ankeny’s Charlie Villhauer and Leah Schafer both qualified for state in the 100 butterfly. Villhauer placed fourth in 59.95, while Schafer finished sixth in 1:02.61.
Maggie Blackmore placed fifth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:30.85. She also qualified for state as an individual along with Allie Kearney and Kylee Stone.
Kearney took sixth in the 200 individual medley in 2:21.78. Stone finished sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.04.
Ankeny’s Miranda Gagne also qualified for state in the diving event with a seventh-place finish in the regional meet on Thursday at Johnston.
“These girls worked very hard this season, and I couldn’t be happier for them,” Rhoads said. “There is no substitute in this sport for hard work, and I tried to push them physically and mentally to prepare for this moment. We were able to get some rest and perform our best of the season when it mattered most, and we had a lot of fun too.”
Ankeny also qualified for state in all three relays. The foursome of Trosper, Zinn, Villhauer and Lindaman opened the meet by placing second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:51.18.
The Hawkettes also placed second in the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Lindaman, Zinn, Spoelstra and Villhauer was clocked in 1:40.77.
Ankeny later ended the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Villhauer, Spoelstra, Trosper and Schafer turned in a time of 3:49.69.
“All three of our relays made it in with good standings, and I’m excited to see if we can move up and sneak onto that podium in those!” Lindaman said. “The energy and determination everyone showed were incredible, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish at state.”
After the meet, Rhoads and assistant coaches Chris Amundson and Grant Hamilton were named the regional coaching staff of the year.
“I’m very proud of my coaching staff,” Rhoads said.
Ankeny will now try to earn its 11th consecutive top-10 finish at the state meet, which will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA. The Hawkettes placed ninth a year ago in their first season under Rhoads.
“Now we will prepare for the final meet of the season, and as they say in this sport…’Last one, fast one,'” Rhoads said.
The swimming preliminaries will be held on Friday at 11 a.m., with the diving competition slated for 4:30 p.m. The swimming finals will begin at noon on Saturday.
Ankeny should have a good chance to score some points in at least two of the relays. The Hawkettes are seeded seventh in the medley relay, 13th in the 200 freestyle relay and 24th in the 400 freestyle relay.
The top 16 fastest times in Friday’s swimming preliminaries will advance to Saturday’s finals. Villhauer is seeded 15th in the butterfly, while Lindaman is 18th in the 50 freestyle and 21st in the 100 freestyle.
Lindaman and Ankeny’s other qualifiers will have to swim above their seeds in order to make the finals.