A trio of Ankeny girls’ swimmers qualified for Friday’s finals at the state meet in a total of four individual events.
Maggie Blackmore advanced to the “B” final in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events during the preliminaries on Thursday at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation & Wellness Center in Iowa City. Fellow junior Charlie Villhauer qualified for the “B” final in the 100 butterfly, while sophomore Abigail Brugman advanced to the “B” final in the 100 backstroke.
Villhauer posted a personal-best time of 58.28 seconds and will likely become a placewinner in the butterfly for the third consecutive year. She placed 16th in the event as a freshman before finishing 12th a year ago, when she nearly advanced to the “A” final before losing a swim-off for the eighth qualifying spot.
Villhauer’s previous personal best of 58.37 came in the swim-off against Addison Oelke of Sioux City West.
“Of course I was hoping to get into the ‘A’ final, but in the end I did my best, especially considering I was out for most of the summer,” said Villhauer. “I’m excited to see what I can do (Friday)!”
Villhauer was seeded 15th going into the state meet, but posted the 11th-fastest time on Thursday. Kimber Corwin of Dowling Catholic was the top qualifier in 55.17, earning all-American consideration.
Both Blackmore and Brugman qualified for the finals in an individual event for the first time.
Blackmore set a personal best of 1:57.22 in the 200 freestyle. She edged Aria Freeman of Sioux City Metro by .17 seconds for the last qualifying spot in the “B” final.
Blackmore swam the final 100 yards in 1:00.49 to move ahead of Freeman. She had trailed Freeman by .58 seconds midway through the race.
Dowling’s Charlotte Qualley was the top qualifier in the event in 1:49.21, earning all-American consideration.
Blackmore later posted the 11th-fastest time of 5:11.50 in the 500 freestyle. She had been seeded seventh going into the state meet.
“I was happy with my times,” said Blackmore. “I went another PR in my 200 and just missed my PR in the 500 by about a second, so with my injuries I’m still proud of the times I put up. I’m excited to see what the team and I can do (Friday)!”
Ellie McCorkle of Ames was the top qualifier in the 500 freestyle in 4:57.16, earning all-American consideration.
Blackmore was joined in both of her events by teammate Avery Anderson. Anderson posted times of 1:59.93 and 5:22.13, placing 22nd in both events.
Anderson, a junior, finished higher than her seeds (26th and 24th). She also placed higher in both events than she did a year ago (26th and 23rd).
Brugman later posted a time of 1:00.52 in the backstroke. The No. 12 seed going into the meet, she tied with Natalie Freeman of Sioux City Metro for the 12th-fastest clocking in the event.
Haylie Weinheimer of Des Moines North was the top qualifier in the backstroke in 55.49, edging Riley Gojkovich of Waukee Northwest by .01 seconds. They both earned all-American consideration.
Brugman was joined in the event by two of her teammates. Senior Kylee Stone placed 29th in a time of 1:02.80, while junior Allie Kearney finished 30th in 1:02.91.
Brugman earlier placed 27th in the 50 freestyle in 25.50 seconds. Teammate Allie Breuner, a senior, took 31st in 25.72.
Ankeny’s Piper Hedrick placed 23rd in the 200 individual medley, finishing two spots higher than her seed. The sophomore was clocked in 2:17.70.
Kearney added a 25th-place finish in the 200 IM in 2:18.56. It was her highest finish in three trips to the state meet in that event.
Later on Thursday, Ankeny’s Isla Corron and Kambelle Subbert competed in the diving event. Corron survived the first round of cuts and placed 20th with a score of 249.05 points.
Subbert took 23rd with 162.95 points. She moved up four places after finishing 27th last year.
Emory Braunschweig-Norris of Southeast Polk won the event with 471.85 points. Dowling’s Mylee Dirks was the runner-up with 452.20.
The swimming finals will begin on Friday at 11 a.m.
