(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Madi Trosper anchored the final relay of the night on behalf of the Ankeny girls’ swimming team, and it came down to a photo finish on Tuesday at Trail Point Aquatics Center.
But by that point, seventh-ranked Ankeny had already defeated No. 17 Southeast Polk, 136-50, for its first CIML Conference victory of the season.
Trosper was actually racing in side-by-side lanes against head coach Dustin Rhoads in a Seniors vs Coaches relay to put the cherry on top of Senior Night and Ankeny’s dual-meet win to close out the regular season.
“It’s been really fun,” Trosper said of her high school swimming career. “I’ve enjoyed all my years, and I’ve loved all my teammates. It’s really sad when everyone becomes seniors and leaves the team. So I just hope I leave the team with everyone remembering me positively.”
Ankeny found a unique opportunity to have some extra fun at the end of the season with their senior class matching the number of coaches on the team.
So Trosper and fellow seniors Olivia Luna and Kendell Trask teamed up to face Rhoads and assistant coaches Grant Hamilton and Dylan Rauser.
Luna and Hamilton started off the relay, then Trask and Rauser handled the middle legs before Trosper and Rhoads raced each other as the anchors.
If you ask the Ankeny girls’ team, the crowd and even some of the Southeast Polk swimmers, the Ankeny seniors were the winners.
“We kind of decided to do it recently because there’s only three (seniors), which is a really small group because usually there’s more,” Rhoads said. “But there were three (coaches), so we were like, ‘Hey, let’s have fun with it.’ We’ll wear our coaches’ clothes, and we’ll let them swim their last race in this pool against us. It was just to have fun and give the crowd a little show at the end.”
Outside of having a fun exhibition relay to end the regular season on a high note, the Ankeny team picked up the victory in convincing fashion after sweeping first place in all of the swimming events.
Trosper herself had a busy night, claiming first place in two individual events and leading off two relay teams. She won the 50 freestyle in 25.96 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 57.58.
Trosper teamed up with Allie Kearney, Charlie Villhauer and Maggie Blackmore to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:58.17. She later combined with Villhauer, Abigail Brugman and Allie Breuner to capture the 200 freestyle relay in 1:44.71.
“I went into it with the mindset of trying to have fun, and I ended up doing pretty well,” Trosper said. “I was pretty proud of most of my times. I think it’s good just to go into it with a positive mindset instead of getting stressed about it.”
Luna’s Senior Night saw her finish sixth in diving with a score of 116.60 points. She also joined Trask in swimming some of the junior varsity events.
“We would just like to thank our three awesome seniors on a great season and career,” Rhoads said. “We’re not done yet, but we are very proud of them and appreciate all of their hard work, dedication and leadership on this team. I am super lucky and blessed to have coached these three.”
Kearney joined Trosper as the only other swimmer to win two individual events. She took the 200 individual medley in 2:24.44 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.44.
Blackmore captured the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:24.22. She later teamed up with Brugman, Adi Dee and Villhauer to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:55.71.
Hayden Ocheltree won the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:03.79, while Piper Hedrick took second in 1:05.38. Hedrick came back later to win the 100 backstroke in 1:05.96.
Avery Anderson won the 200 freestyle in a time of 2:08.92.
Ankeny improved to 1-5 in the conference and 15-10 overall. The Rams’ records dropped to 0-6 and 14-31.
“We’ve kind of been through a tough stretch in the CIML because it’s a really good and deep conference for swimming and all sports,” Rhoads said. “I’m really proud of the girls for coming out tonight on Senior Night, going as fast as they could, diving as well as they could and getting the win for the seniors, which was our goal.”
Southeast Polk’s only win of the night came in the diving event, where Holli Hetzer–one of the state’s top divers–racked up 268.15 points to earn the victory. Ankeny was led by Kambelle Subbert, who took fourth with 161.55.
Ankeny will head to the Waukee Natatorium next week for the CIML Conference meet. The diving competition will be held on Oct. 23 with the swimming events slated for Oct. 25.
“I’m really excited to see how our taper goes and how much time we can drop as a team,” Trosper said. “We’re just really looking forward to seeing how well everyone can do at the meets.”
