It won’t be easy to replace the duo of Brock Peterson and Finn Stukerjurgen, but the Ankeny boys’ swimming team returns a solid nucleus from last year’s squad.
Six state qualifiers are back from a team that tied with Dowling Catholic for 13th place in the state meet with 67 points.
“It will be tough to replace Finn and Brock and the impact they had, but I am excited for this group,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “They work hard and are fun to be around. Every team is different, and we are still figuring out our strengths and what we need to really work on.”
Seniors Sam Howard, Noah Kearney, Bryer Pearson and Wilson Pous-Ojeda are among the returnees. Sophomores Jake Smith and Jack Walsh are also back.
Pearson qualified for the state meet in four events as a junior. He placed ninth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.36 seconds after taking 11th in that event in 2024.
Pearson tied for 25th in the 50 freestyle. He was clocked in 22.34 seconds.
Pearson swam the butterfly leg on Ankeny’s 11th-place 200 medley relay. He is the lone returnee from a foursome that posted a time of 1:36.71.
“Bryer is for sure our top returner, and I do have high hopes and expectations for him just like we do for the entire team,” Rhoads said.
Pearson also swam the opening leg on the 10th-place 400 freestyle relay. He was joined on that quartet by Smith, who anchored the relay to a time of 3:14.84.
“Jake is going to have a breakout year as a sophomore,” Rhoads said. “He has worked really hard and improved so much in the offseason.”
Pous-Ojeda is the team’s top returnee in the distance events. He placed 31st in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.96, then later took 32nd in the 500 freestyle in 5:06.17.
Kearney, Howard and Walsh also qualified for state in individual events.
Kearney nearly advanced to the “B” final in the 100 backstroke. He finished 18th in a time of 54.61 seconds, just .50 shy of becoming a placewinner.
Walsh took 27th in the 200 individual medley in 2:03.84. Howard finished 30th in the butterfly in 54.66.
Kearney, Howard and Smith also qualified for state in the 200 freestyle relay. However, the team was disqualified in that event.
There are 40 boys on the roster, including 10 seniors. Howard and Pous-Ojeda are the team captains along with Ike Evans and Parker Wilson.
“It is very exciting to see the high school swim programs growing. That was my main goal when I took over as the head coach–we need more depth and numbers,” Rhoads said. “The Trail Point Ankeny Swim Club that started this fall will continue to benefit the high school girls’ and boys’ teams for years to come.”
Ankeny will open its season on Tuesday by hosting the Sprint Invitational at Trail Point Aquatics Center. The team placed third at last year’s meet, which was won by Waukee Northwest.
“The practices have been going well; the first week is always a challenge with the girls and boys overlapping but we made it work and the boys were excited to get going,” Rhoads said. “The guys were ahead of where I expected us to be at our time trials on Friday, which is a good thing. I know the boys are pumped to get the season going. The Sprint Invite is a fun way to kick off the season right before Thanksgiving.”
Rhoads said his team’s goals are the same as every year.
“We want to have fun, work hard and do our best,” he said. “We want to try to finish in the top half of the CIML, win a district championship, and try to finish top 10 as a team at state. Those will be big challenges for this team, but I look forward to helping them improve and watching them grow through the many ups and downs the sport of swimming brings.”