Despite the graduation of standouts Owen Schwebach and Owen Evans, the Ankeny boys’ swimming team still boasts a quartet of returning state qualifiers.
Junior Bryer Pearson is back along with seniors Brock Peterson, Finn Stukerjurgen and Austin Troyer from a squad that placed ninth in last year’s state meet with 113 points.
“We have 34 guys out this winter, so it’s a solid number,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads, whose team posted records of 3-2 in the CIML Conference and 5-4 overall a year ago. “It’s a mix of experienced swimmers with quite a few new guys to the sport.”
Peterson is an 11-time state qualifier and a nine-time placewinner. He took ninth in the 200 individual medley as a junior with a time of 1:54.22, then later placed ninth in the 100 butterfly in 51.17 seconds.
Peterson finished 10th in the butterfly and 13th in the 100 backstroke as a sophomore in 2023, when he helped Ankeny to a fourth-place finish overall. He also swam on the runner-up 400 freestyle relay.
Peterson has qualified for the state meet twice in three different individual events. He is a three-time qualifier in the 200 medley relay, helping the Hawks to a pair of podium finishes in the last two meets (6th in 2023 and 5th in 2024).
Stukerjurgen, meanwhile, is a five-time state qualifier. He placed 15th in the 200 IM last year with a time of 1:59.11 and finished 22nd in the 500 freestyle in 4:55.09.
Pearson also qualified for last year’s state meet in two individual events. He placed 11th in the butterfly in 51.96 and 24th in the backstroke in 54.90.
Pearson and Stukerjurgen also joined Troyer on the 18th-place 400 freestyle relay. Roe Denny was the lone swimmer to graduate from that relay, while Peterson is the only returnee from the ninth-place 200 freestyle relay.
“We lost seven state qualifiers who will all be tough to replace,” Rhoads said. “But I expect Brock, Finn and Bryer to be big leaders for us this year.”
Troyer could become the team’s top sprinter following the departure of Schwebach and Evans, who placed eighth in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, respectively, at last year’s state meet. Schwebach, who also took fourth in the butterfly, is now competing at Xavier University (Ohio).
Troyer placed sixth in the 50 freestyle at last year’s conference meet, posting a time of 22.91 seconds. He also swam on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay to help the Hawks to a third-place finish overall.
“I think Austin and two other seniors, Tate Brownsberger and Tanner Young, will have even bigger roles this season,” Rhoads said. “I expect juniors Sam Howard, Noah Kearney and Wilson Pous-Ojeda to be big contributors with a chance to make it to state, and freshmen Jake Smith, Jack Walsh, Sam Kunkel and Miles Harbert should help us right away.”
Ankeny will open the season on Tuesday by hosting the Sprint Invitational at Trail Point Aquatics Center. Valley and Waukee, the top two finishers at last year’s state meet, will be among the seven teams in the field.
“Our practices have been going well with two a day every day but Wednesday,” Rhoads said. “We have had to overcome a lot of sickness going around the team the first two weeks, but hopefully that will get past us and won’t happen again the rest of the season. Our current depth is not where it needs to be, but we are working hard to get the boys in shape and a lot of other returners will need to step up as well for us to find success.
“We are excited to kick off our season at our home Sprint Invite,” he added.
According to Rhoads, the Hawks’ goals are similar to every season: a top-10 finish at state, place in the top half of the conference, win a district championship, and qualify as many swimmers as possible for state.
“The short-term goals are always to work hard, have fun, do your best, and be a team that everyone wants to be on,” he said. “I am looking forward to helping this team, and watching them grow and improve as the season progresses.”
