Grace Hoeper among individual stars in Iowa high school girls’ state swim meet dominated by Waukee

MARSHALLTOWN — In a state meet where Waukee dominated the team race, Iowa City High’s Grace Hoeper was one of the individual stars.

The junior, who attends Solon, not only defended her state title in the 50-yard freestyle, she came back about an hour later to add the 100 free title to her list of accomplishments.

“It's just an amazing experience to be here,” she said. “The 50 free had me a little more nervous because I had a title to defend but I went in with the confidence of a defending champion and it worked out well.”

There was little drama in the team race. Waukee won its third straight team title, winning seven events and finishing second in the other four. Coach Shelley Twigg's team, which will be split among Waukee and Waukee Northwest next season, finished with 381 points, easily outdistancing West Des Moines Dowling (241.5) and Davenport Central (190). Iowa City West was the top area finisher, taking sixth with 146 points.

Hoeper was one of three double winners in Saturday’s meet, held before a full house at the Marshalltown YMCA pool. The other two, Johnston’s Faith Frantum (200 and 500 free) and Waukee’s Willa Hage (200 IM and 100 breast), shared the swimmer of the meet award.

City High Coach Mandi Kowal was impressed with Hoeper's mental approach throughout the day.

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“I'm just so happy for her,” Kowal said. “That's a lot of pressure for any athlete, to defend a title then try and get two. To hold your composure and still be a leader to the rest of the swimmers on the team is critical and she did that today.”

Ironically, it was a pair of Waukee standouts Hoeper had to hold off for her gold medals. In the 50, she finished in 23.44 seconds to top the Warriors’ Payden Rafferty (24.08). In the 100, she used a great final turn to pull away from Waukee’s Nora Kemp to win in 50.27.

The last turn to home was the key to beat Kemp.

“I didn't want to be too optimistic,” she said, “but I felt really good in that last 25.”

Kowal said one aspect of Hoeper's ability made the difference in both races.

“Her superpowers are underwater,” Kowal said. “I mean every time she comes off a wall she will gain quite a bit on people. When she gets in the water, she is so tight, so little in the water that it really helps her so much.”

Iowa City West had a pair of third place finishers. Diver Kamila Swanson took third on Friday and the 400 freestyle relay team of Kolby Reese, Isabella Friessen, Averie Bilskemper, Hanna Geng also got a bronze medal. Kolby Reese was fourth in the 500 freestyle, finishing in 5:07.28.

Iowa high school girls’ state swimming and diving

At Marshalltown YMCA

Team standings: 1. Waukee 381, 2. West Des Moines Dowling 241.5, 3. Davenport Central 190, 4. West Des Moines Valley 186, 5. Ames 181.5, 6. Iowa City West 146, 7. Cedar Falls 133, 8. Sioux City Metro 108, 9. Ankeny 105, 10. Pleasant Valley 85, 11. Johnston 83, 12. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 80, 13. Bettendorf 73, 14. Iowa City High 66, 15. Dubuque Senior 40, 16. Carroll 33, 17. Linn-Mar 27, 18. Marshalltown 20, 19. (tie) Perry, Grinnell 16, 21. (tie) Mason City, Fort Dodge 15, 23. (tie) Newton, Ottumwa 14, 25. (tie) Spencer, Waterloo West 13, 27. Dubuque Wahlert 12, 28. (tie) Southeast Polk, Lewis Central 9

EVENT RESULTS

» Full results from the IGHSAU

Winner and Gazette-area athletes:

200-yard medley relay:

1. Waukee 1:44.78; 2. Davenport Central 1:45.93, 3. WDM Dowling 1:46.09;

9. Iowa City West (Carlee Wilkins, Averie Bilskemper, Karen Liu, Isabella Friessen) 1:50.30

12. Linn-Mar (Grace Whisenand, Maura Carstensen, Mehal Raghwani, Ellie Junk) 1:51.49

19. Cedar Rapids Washington (Zoey Jones, Lily Belle Barker, Cora Wheeler, Mattie Piersall) 1:53.54

27. Iowa City High (Ellie Galloway, Saorise Miller, Grace Hoeper, Margalit Frank) 1:57.14

29. Decorah (Sydney Thompson, Avalea Burns, Isabella Sailor, Elizabeth Bucksa) 1:57.44

32. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Laynie Adams, Lilly Adams, Lilly Anctil, Shea Wilson) 1:59.73

200 freestyle:

1. Faith Frantum (Johnston) 1:48.57

4. Hannah Geng (Iowa City West) 1:52.99,

11. Kolby Reese (Iowa City West) 1:56.65

27. Gretchen Gerke (Iowa City West) 2:00.86

200 individual medley:

1. Willa Hage (Waukee) 2:02.43

13. Lilly Adams (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 2:12.98

18. Mehal Raghwani (Linn-Mar) 2:14.09

25. Layla Breitbach (Linn-Mar) 2:17.95

30. Karen Liu (Iowa City West) 2:20.56.

50 freestyle:

1. Grace Hoeper (Iowa City High) 23.44

10. Maria Trotta (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 24.74

18. Lilly Anctil (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 24.98

27. Ellie Hance (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 25.34

29. Elizabeth Bucksa (Decorah) 25.41.

50 para freestyle:

1. Addalyn Worster (Keokuk) 30.99

2. Hannah Longmore (Iowa City West) 37.92

100 butterfly:

1. Hayden Bailey (Waukee) 55.65,

6. Hannah Geng (Iowa City West) 58.31

15. Maura Carstensen (Linn-Mar) 1:00.97

20. Karen Liu (Iowa City West) 1:01.13

28. Lilly Anctil (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 1:02.32

100 freestyle:

1. Grace Hoeper (Iowa City High) 50.27

8. Averie Bilskemper (Iowa City West) 53.60

13. Grace Whisenand (Linn-Mar) 54.46

14. Maria Trotta (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 54.47

21. Mehal Raghwani (Linn-Mar) 54.99

100 para freestyle:

1. Hannah Longmore (Iowa City West) 1:24.62

500 freestyle:

1. Faith Frantum (Johnston) 4:50.17

4. Kolby Reese (Iowa City West) 5:07.28

14. Gretchen Gerke (Iowa City West) 5:19.61

16. Lilly Adams (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 5:26.94

23. Elizabeth Bucksa (Decorah) 5:26.26

28. Mingmei Lumetta (Iowa City West) 5:31.24

200 freestyle relay:

1. Waukee 1:36.97

7. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Maria Trotta, Ellie Hance, Lily Adams, Lilly Anctil) 1:39.89

8. Iowa City High (Elsa Farber, Grace Hoeper, Madelyn Elkins, Margalit Frank) 1:44.63

10. Iowa City West (Isabella Frissen, Karen Liu, Kolby Reese, Hannah Geng) 1:40.47

20. Linn-Mar (Mehal Raghwani, Libby Richard, Ellie Junk, Maura Carstensen) 1:42.44

28. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (Katie Slosiarek, Addison Mougin, Kylie Wachtl, Lauren Weiss) 1:44.69

29 .Cedar Rapids Washington (Aleece Lee, Zoey Jones, Cora Wheeler, Mattie Piersall) 1:45.59

32. Williamsburg (Selah Smith, Olivia Kelting, Caitlyn Cronbaugh, Laura Carrico) 1:46.95

100 para backstroke:

1. Addalyn Worster (Keokuk) 1:19.09

100 backstroke:

1. Payden Rafferty (Waukee) 55.52

8. Grace Whisenand (Linn-Mar) 59.51

13. Carlee Wilkins (Iowa City West) 1:00.08

20. Ellie Hance (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 1:01.23

100 para breaststroke:

1. Ally Darter (Dubuque Hempstead) 2:12.11

100 breaststroke:

1. Willa Hage (Waukee) 1:02.87

23. Lily Belle Barker (Cedar Rapids Washington) 1:08.21

26. Maura Carstensen (Linn-Mar) 1:09.18

27. Addison Mougin (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 1:08.98

28. Averie Bilskemper (Iowa City West) 1:09.71

31. Lily Gearhart (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 1:10.54

400 freestyle relay:

1. Waukee 3:28.36

3. Iowa City West (Kolby Reese, Isabella Friessen, Averie Bilskemper, Hanna Geng) 3:33.33

10. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (Ellie Hance, Darah Foerster, Laynie Adams, Maria Trotta) 3:39.36.

15. Iowa City High (Margalit Frank, Elsa Farber, Saorise Miller, Grace Hoeper) 3:42.80

27. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (Addison Mougin, Kylie Wachtl, Joselyn Barber, Lauren Weiss) 3:52.78

30. Cedar Rapids Washington (Aleece Lee, Zoey Jones, Lily Belle Barker, Mattie Piersall) 3:54.44

DQ: Linn-Mar (Izzy Telisak, Anna Nordine, Grace Whisenand, Layla Breitbach) DQ

Diving:

1. Abby Tollefson (Marshalltown) 504.55

3. Kamila Swanson (Iowa City West) 434.80

4. Katelyn Mackey (Cedar Rapids Kennedy)

7. Kylie Link (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 4:26.35

16. Aimee Varga (Iowa City West) 366.35

24. Isabel Poggenklass (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) 161.50

25. Shandin Gilbert (Linn-Mar) 159.60

30. Rowan Russell (Iowa City West) 150.75

32. Zoey Skriver (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 145.15