Competing in its home pool paid off for the Ankeny girls’ swimming team.
Seventh-ranked Ankeny placed second in a regional meet on Saturday at Trail Point Aquatics Center. Coach Dustin Rhoads’ team scored 418 points, finishing 10 points behind No. 6 Iowa City West.
Rhoads and his assistants were named the coaching staff of the year after the meet.
“We had a great day!” said Rhoads. “It was very fun to host the regional meet at our home pool. I think it was a pretty big advantage for us, and I appreciate everyone who made it happen. Seeing the pool jam-packed from wall-to-wall was very cool for our sport.”
Ankeny qualified for the state meet in all three relay events. Ten girls also advanced in a total of 14 individual events.
“I’m really proud of how our team came together and competed,” said Ankeny junior Maggie Blackmore. “Almost everyone who competed had a lifetime best in their event, if not multiple (ones). It’s always a weight off everyone’s shoulders getting to see people’s hard work pay off, and it was also exciting being so close to winning the whole meet. Even though we barely missed it, everyone couldn’t be happier with how the team came together.”
Ankeny was in contention for the team title until the end. Iowa City West, which had been disqualified earlier in the 200 medley relay, won the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:36.20 to secure the team crown.
No. 10 Boone placed second in the final event in 3:38.70 and took third overall with 386 points. The Ankeny foursome of Blackmore, Avery Anderson, Allie Breuner and Charlie Villhauer placed third in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:40.43.
“Obviously, we came up just short on the team race side of things, but I’m really proud of this team!” Rhoads said. “I know they gave their best today, and the No. 1 goal was to get in as many girls as possible to the state meet!”
Blackmore earned a pair of runner-up finishes in the distance events. She posted a time of 1:57.64 in the 200 freestyle.
Blackmore was later edged by Iowa City West’s Elsie Landon in the 500 freestyle. Landon won the race in 5:10.03, winning by .19 seconds.
Blackmore led by 1.60 seconds with 100 yards to go before Landon rallied. Still, her time of 5:10.22 was the seventh-fastest across the state on Saturday, giving her the highest seed among all of Ankeny’s qualifiers.
“I was really happy with how I performed, especially considering I’m still untapered and have surgery coming up next week,” said Blackmore, who is the No. 14 seed in the 200 freestyle. “Because of that I’ve honestly just been trying to make the most of the season, so seeing all of my events end in lifetime bests was really exciting and rewarding.”
Like Blackmore, Anderson qualified for state in both distance events for the second straight year. The junior took fifth in the 200 freestyle in 2:00.36 and fourth in the 500 freestyle in 5:22.55.
Ankeny qualified a trio of swimmers in the 100 backstroke. Abigail Brugman placed second in 1:00.26, Kylee Stone was sixth in 1:02.81, and Allie Kearney finished seventh in 1:02.89.
Brugman trailed Spencer’s Emerson Wittrock by just .14 seconds after swimming the opening 50 in 29.19. Wittrock then held on to win the race in 59.89.
Brugman, a sophomore, also qualified in the 50 freestyle, placing fourth in that event in 25.32 seconds. Breuner advanced with a sixth-place finish in 25.64.
“We were led by our seniors Allie and Kylee, who were absolutely awesome today and set the tone for the team,” Rhoads said.
Kearney qualified in both the backstroke and the 200 individual medley for the second year in a row. She placed fourth in the 200 IM in a time of 2:18.22.
Kearney finished just ahead of teammate Piper Hedrick, who took fifth in 2:18.68 and also advanced to state.
Villhauer placed fourth in the 100 butterfly in 59.68 seconds. She will try to become a three-time placewinner in that event, where she is seeded 15th.
Ankeny opened Saturday’s meet with a second-place finish in the medley relay. The quartet of Brugman, Rowen Hutzell, Villhauer and Hedrick was clocked in 1:54.00.
Brugman also swam the leadoff leg for the third-place 200 freestyle relay. She teamed up with Blackmore, Villhauer and Breuner to post a time of 1:40.27.
Ankeny will also send senior divers Kambelle Subbert and Isla Corron to the state meet. They qualified on Thursday at Waukee.
“We have a group of 15 girls going to state next week, and I think that is incredible!” Rhoads said. “Now we can fine tune some things the next few days and hopefully all go faster in Iowa City.”
The state meet will be held at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation & Wellness Center. The swimming preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, with the diving meet to follow at 3:30.
The swimming finals will be held on Friday at 11 a.m.
