The Ankeny boys’ swimming team honored its six seniors during Tuesday’s dual meet against visiting Waukee Northwest.
Tate Brownsberger, Charlie Morrissey, Brock Peterson, Finn Stukerjurgen, Austin Troyer and Tanner Young competed in the pool at Trail Point Aquatics Center for the final time.
“It was great to honor those guys,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “They have been very fun to coach and have represented our team and program very well. I am very thankful for their efforts and dedication over the past four years.”
Unfortunately, the second-ranked Wolves didn’t allow No. 9 Ankeny to celebrate its Senior Night with a victory. They won 10 of the 11 events and cruised to a 118-52 win in the CIML Conference dual meet.
The Hawks’ records dropped to 2-4 in the league and 12-8 overall.
“Obviously, it was a tough meet facing the No. 2 team and doing that without Bryer Pearson–who was sick,” Rhoads said. “They are ranked very high for a reason and have a lot of depth everywhere.”
Ankeny’s lone victory came in the 100 butterfly, where Peterson placed first in a time of 53.61 seconds. Teammates Jack Walsh and Sam Howard took fourth and fifth, respectively–allowing the Hawks to outscore Northwest in that event.
Peterson earlier placed second in the 200 individual medley in 2:03.78, while Stukerjurgen was third in that event in 2:06.37. Stukerjurgen later finished third in the 100 backstroke in 57.79.
“It was a good celebration of the seniors,” said Peterson. “It was definitely a real moment for us wrapping up a few things in our high school swimming careers.”
Troyer was the runner-up in both sprint events behind Northwest’s Parker Scuffham. He posted times of 23.01 in the 50 freestyle and 51.80 in the 100 freestyle.
Wilson Pous-Ojeda finished third in both distance events. He posted times of 1:55.04 in the 200 freestyle and 5:18.03 in the 500 freestyle.
Ankeny placed second in the 200 freestyle relay. The foursome of Troyer, Stukerjurgen, Peterson and Jake Smith was clocked in 1:32.84.
Troyer, Peterson and Stukerjurgen also swam on the runner-up 400 freestyle relay. They teamed up with Noah Kearney to post a time of 3:27.61.
“Our varsity guys are very tired from a lot of tough training, and our JV guys are getting ready for their final meet,” Rhoads said. “There’s a lot going on with tons of meets jam-packed in a short time, a new school semester starting, sickness, freezing temperatures, tough air quality in the pool, etc. But we’ve got to keep going despite the adversity. I am still proud of these guys and how they competed. I look forward to all of them starting to get more and more rest as the end of the season approaches.”
Ankeny has lost to the state’s top two teams in the last 11 days. It dropped a 111-59 decision to No. 1 Cedar Falls on Jan. 11.
“Both teams are very strong and carry a lot of depth in their rosters,” Peterson said. “They both just have a lot of solid guys that can score points wherever. It’s nice swimming against them to get a feel of what it’s going to be at the state meet, and that’s really going to help our preparation.”
Ankeny will compete in the CIML Conference meet on Saturday at Summit Middle School in Johnston.
