SWIMMING: TOE-TO-TOE WITH THE BEST

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor 

sports@beeherald.com

MARSHALLTOWN – The Boone High School swim team capped off one of the most successful season’s in school history with four top-20 finishes at the Nov. 5 state swim meet in Marshalltown. 

The 200-yard medley relay squad composed of Greene County junior Haley Hall, Erin Kokemiller, Madelynn Santi and Ann Marie DeVries put forth the day’s top performance with a 15th place finish, swimming to a time of 1:51.23.

The Toreadors also secured a top-20 finish in the 100-yard breast stroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Boone earned top-25 finishes in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle as well. 

Head coach Chris Mann was thrilled with the effort the four state-qualifying girls put forth over the weekend, especially against the state’s fiercest competition. 

“It was a great way to end our season,” he said. “The seniors could not ask for a better way for their high school swimming careers to come to a close. We didn’t drop time or move up in place, but that is only because we had to get a lot faster just to make it to the state meet.”

Kokemiller earned the Toreadors’ second top-15 finish of the day, swimming to time of 1:07.59 in the 100-yard breast stroke, which placed her 15th overall. 

The senior was bested by Johnston’s Lexi Horner, who picked up second individual state-championship in the 100-yard breast stroke, swimming to a time of 1:03.75. 

Kokemiller secured her third top 20 finish of the day in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing 16th with a time of 2:14.10. Horner captured her first state title with a time of 2:02.3.1.

DeVries tied for 17th with Atlantic’s Mycala Kickland in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming to a time, 24.80. Muscatine’s Sarah Schemmel won the event with a time of 23.11.  

The Ames quartet of Jazlyn Horras, Molly Winer, Grace Snyder and Sophie Sorenson, broke the state record (1:43.23) en route to their state championship medley relay swim.

Boone’s Hall was also a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that came in 21st with a time of 3:45.60. 

Ames, who won all three relay events, swam to a state record time of 3:28.74 in the 400-yard freestyle finals. 

DeVries also finished 24th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.72. Council Bluffs-Lewis Central’s MyKenzie Leehy was 100-yard freestyle state-champion with a state record-setting time of 50.29. The three top finishers were separated by just one-tenth of a second. 

Santi, Kokemiller and DeVries formed a trio that reached unprecedented success over their four years in the Boone program. They powered the Toreadors to a second place finish as a team at the 2016 North Central Conference swim meet and third at the Johnston regional. Together, the trio combined for eight state meet events over the last two years. 

It’s a core that has helped Boone take the next step and is one that the Boone program will miss for years to come. 

“(It could) take me all day to sum up what they have done for the program and for myself as a coach. Most importantly, they have left a legacy that will echo for many years,” Mann said. “They have achieved some goals that seemed outrageous at first and proved that if you put in the time and work, anything is possible in this sport. They have also shown that a small school can be very successful against some of the biggest schools in the state. That is encouraging for a lot of swimmers in our programs.”

The Toreadors finished 30th as a team with just four swimmers competing in six events in Marshalltown. Boone placed high enough in handful of events to score seven points. 

Ames captured it’s sixth team title in the last seven years, scoring 341 points, cruising past second-place Johnston, who tallied 197 points. 

Bettendorf (189), Waukee (170) and Muscatine (131) rounded out the top five. 

Though the Toreadors lose the seniors that qualified in all six of the events Saturday and made up three-fourths of their relay teams, Mann is encouraged by the talent that is coming up through the ranks for next season. Greene County athletes Hall, Ashley Hunter and Megan Doran all return and several key members got to taste unrivaled success this past fall.

“We will obviously be rebuilding a little bit next year, however, we have a tremendous group of fine young ladies that are eager to fill a lot of those gaps,” Mann said. “Going 10-0 in dual meets has given these girls and this team a lot of confidence that we never have had before. I am already excited to see what next year brings for us.”