The Ankeny girls’ swimming team has qualified a total of eight girls for next week’s state meet in Iowa City.
Ninth-ranked Ankeny placed second in a regional meet on Saturday at Johnston, where coach Dustin Rhoads’ team qualified for state in all three relays and every individual event except for the 100 breaststroke.
“I was so happy with our team’s performance,” said Maggie Blackmore. “We had people consistently getting lifetime bests so it was exciting to watch their taper pay off. I’m not tapered yet, so I’m still super happy with my times.”
Blackmore and fellow sophomores Allie Kearney and Charlie Villhauer each qualified for state in two individual events and a pair of relays. Sophomore Avery Anderson qualified in two individual events and one relay, while senior Madi Trosper qualified in the 50 freestyle as well as two relays.
Freshman Abigail Brugman will compete in the relays along with junior Allie Breuner. Another junior, Kambelle Subbert, qualified in the diving event.
Junior Kylee Stone, sophomore Hayden Ocheltree and freshman Piper Hedrick will serve as the team’s alternates.
“We had a really great and fun day,” said Rhoads, who earned the Coaching Staff of the Year award along with assistants Grant Hamilton and Dylan Rauser. “The girls were fired up and swam awesome!”
No. 5 Johnston won the team title in its home pool at Summit Middle School with 450 points. Ankeny finished with 432 points, while No. 11 Council Bluffs Lewis Central took third with 372.
“Obviously, we came up just short of our team goal to win the regional and bring home a banner, but we gave it our best shot!” Rhoads said. “Johnston was just a little deeper, especially in the final few events which we knew they would be. The No. 1 goal was to try to get season-best times and get as many girls to state as possible.”
Blackmore and Anderson waged a pair of close battles in the freestyle distance events. In the 200, Anderson used a strong finish to win the event in a time of 2:01.30, edging Blackmore by .26 seconds.
Blackmore led her teammate by .46 seconds after the opening 50, but Anderson rallied and moved ahead by .03 at the 150-yard mark. She then swam the final 50 in 31.41 to hold on for the win.
Blackmore later raced to a victory in the 500 freestyle, posting a time of 5:23.13. Anderson was the runner-up in 5:24.50.
In that race, Anderson led her teammate by .30 seconds at the 250-yard mark. But Blackmore moved ahead by .19 after the next 50, then gradually pulled away to win by 1.37 seconds.
“Avery and I don’t often get to race each other, so getting to race her was a fun experience for sure,” said Blackmore, who had earlier posted a state-qualifying time of 5:15.38–which puts her 13th in that event going into the state meet. “We had a super close race in the 200, and she out-touched me. Of course I go into each race hoping to win, but I was so excited for her because she has worked so hard this season and that meant she made it to state.”
Ankeny opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Trosper, Kearney, Villhauer and Brugman was clocked in 1:52.97, allowing them to earn the No. 9 seed in that event for state.
“Starting the meet with a win in the medley relay and then going 1-2 in the 200 freestyle really set the tone that it was going to be a great meet for us,” Rhoads said.
Villhauer later placed second in the 100 butterfly in 59.67 seconds. She nearly matched the state-qualifying time of 59.48 that she had posted earlier, which puts her ninth going into state.
Villhauer then qualified in the 100 freestyle. She took third in that event in 55.14.
Kearney advanced to state in the 200 individual medley, placing fourth in a time of 2:19.58. She also qualified by placing fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.01.
Trosper qualified with a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle. She was clocked in 25.53 seconds.
Ankeny placed second in the 200 freestyle relay behind Lewis Central, which also captured the 400 freestyle relay to close out the meet. The quartet of Blackmore, Trosper, Brugman and Breuner posted a time of 1:42.55.
Blackmore later helped her team to a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. She teamed up with Villhauer, Kearney and Anderson to post a time of 3:45.52.
“I am really proud of this group of girls,” Rhoads said. “They work hard, but know how to have fun and that’s something I appreciate about them. It’s not always about winning or losing, but the journey together and becoming a team. I am glad we get one more meet together at the best pool in the state!”
The state meet will be held at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation & Wellness Center. The preliminaries in the swimming events will be held on Thursday at noon, with the diving event to follow at 3:30.
The swimming finals will begin at noon on Friday.
Here are Ankeny’s state qualifiers, along with their qualifying marks and their seeds:
Diving–Subbert, 319.60 (32nd).
200 medley relay–Trosper, Kearney, Villhauer and Brugman, 1:52.97 (9th).
200 freestyle–Anderson, 2:01.30 (26th); Blackmore, 2:01.56 (28th).
200 IM–Kearney, 2:19.58 (27th).
50 freestyle–Trosper, 25.53 (28th).
100 butterfly–Villhauer, 59.48 (9th).
100 freestyle–Villhauer, 55.14 (18th).
500 freestyle–Blackmore, 5:15.38 (13th); Anderson, 5:24.50 (19th).
200 freestyle relay–Blackmore, Trosper, Brugman and Breuner, 1:42.55 (12th).
100 backstroke–Kearney, 1:03.01 (31st).
400 freestyle relay–Villhauer, Blackmore, Kearney and Hedrick, 3:45.52 (16th).
