Four Ankeny boys’ swimmers qualified for Saturday’s finals in a total of five individual events during Friday’s preliminaries of the state meet at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center in Iowa City.
Senior Bryer Pearson was Ankeny’s top qualifier. He advanced to the “A” final in the 100 butterfly by posting a time of 49.84 seconds, the fourth-fastest clocking overall.
Parker Macho of Linn-Mar (Marion) was the top qualifier in that event in 46.74. He broke the state record of 46.89 that was set by Ankeny’s Lance Swanepoel in the prelims at the 2023 meet.
Sophomore Jake Smith qualified for the “B” final in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. He posted times of 1:44.17 and 4:45.78, respectively.
Smith was the 14th-fastest qualifier in the 200 freestyle and the ninth-fastest in the 500 freestyle. He missed qualifying for the “A” final in the 500 freestyle by just .59 seconds.
Also advancing to the “B” final were senior Noah Kearney and sophomore Jack Walsh in the 200 individual medley. Kearney posted the 11th-fastest time of 1:58.84, while Walsh was the No. 13 qualifier in 1:59.17.
Walsh almost qualified for the “B” final in the butterfly. He placed 17th overall in that event in 53.54, just .21 seconds behind the last qualifier.
Ankeny sophomore Miles Harbert placed 18th in the 100 freestyle. He was clocked in 48.57.
Kearney took 18th in the 100 backstroke in 53.88. He finished .01 seconds ahead of Pearson, who took 20th in that event.
Kearney won a swim-off against Hayden Brown of Cedar Rapids Jefferson after they posted an identical time. Thus, Kearney earned one of the two alternate spots for Saturday’s finals in the unlikely event that two swimmers will be unable to compete.
Senior Wilson Pous-Ojeda placed 19th in the 200 freestyle. He posted a time of 1:48.58.
Fellow senior Sam Howard took 27th in that event in 1:50.51. He later finished 21st in the butterfly in 54.21.
Freshman Landon Wisehart placed 29th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.40. Sophomore Brant Schumacher finished 30th in the 500 freestyle in 5:04.93.
Overall, the Ankeny swimmers dropped time in 13 of the 14 events from last week’s district meet.
The finals will begin on Saturday at noon. The Hawks will compete in all three relays along with the individual events in which they qualified.
Ankeny freshman Logan Shwery will also swim in the 50 freestyle paralympic event. He is one of six qualifiers in that race.
