The Ankeny boys’ swimming team faced visiting Waukee for the second time in 10 days.
After placing fifth behind the runner-up Warriors in the Ankeny Sprint Invitational on Nov. 25, the Hawks collided with Waukee again in the CIML Conference opener for both teams on Thursday at Trail Point Aquatics Center.
The Warriors won 10 of the 11 events and posted a 104-66 victory after edging Ankeny by just a single point in last year’s dual meet. They improved to 7-1 on the season, while the Hawks’ overall record dropped to 3-5.
“I thought we competed hard,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Rhoads. “It’s tough to stay close in a dual when you only win one event, but we had a lot of great races and people step up to get in the top five in each race to score for the team.”
Bryer Pearson recorded Ankeny’s lone win in the 100 butterfly, posting a time of 52.52 seconds in that event. He also took second in the 50 freestyle in 22.85, finishing just .09 seconds behind Waukee’s Mason Bradley.
Jake Smith was the runner-up in a pair of events. He posted times of 1:50.54 in the 200 freestyle and 5:06.08 in the 500 freestyle.
Jack Walsh placed second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:07.52. He added a third-place finish in the butterfly in 59.24.
Noah Kearney was second in the 100 backstroke. He was clocked in 58.86.
Wilson Pous-Ojeda placed third in the 100 freestyle in 51.28. Cael Grubb took third in the 500 freestyle in 5:22.90.
Ankeny opened the meet with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Kearney, Landon Wisehart, Pearson and Ike Evans posted a time of 1:42.53.
The Hawks later took second in the 200 freestyle relay. Kearney and Evans teamed up with Smith and Pous-Ojeda to turn in a time of 1:33.00.
Ankeny ended the meet with another second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Smith, Pearson, Pous-Ojeda and Wisehart was clocked in 3:22.90.
“We had a great first dual meet as a team,” Rhoads said. “It’s always fun to be at home and compete against Waukee. They always have a really good team and are well coached, and it was good for us to see where we are at as a group.
“I’m very proud of our JV team as well for getting a big win. They have improved so much from our time trials two weeks ago, and I’m really excited to see them continue to grow and improve,” he added.
The Hawks will travel to Grinnell on Tuesday for a non-conference meet against the Tigers (5-0). The meet will be held at the Grinnell College Natatorium.
“The challenge now is how do we learn from this experience and get better?” Rhoads said. “We have five meets in the next 15 days which is tough, but the goal is to get better each day and take advantage of the opportunities we have to compete. We have to focus on all of the little details in our races even more. I know this group will continue to work hard and improve. It’s a grind, but they can handle it and will be better off in the end from it!”