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Iowa City West’s Hayden Hakes, Linn-Mar’s Parker Macho stellar at boys’ state swimming championships
Dubuque Hempstead wins team title, while 3 share top individual honors
Mike Condon
Feb. 15, 2025 5:51 pm
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IOWA CITY — The individual talent in Saturday’s boys’ state swimming meet was unmistakable.
So when it came to picking a swimmer of the year, the award was divided three ways. Iowa City West senior Hayden Hakes and Linn-Mar junior Parker Macho, along with Newton junior Finn Martin, each won two individual events to claim a share of the award at the University of Iowa’s Campus Wellness and Recreation Pool.
The team of the year?
That title belonged to Dubuque Hempstead. Coach Rick Loeffelholz’s Mustangs had no individual champions, but parlayed two relay wins and superior depth in the individual events to finish with 213.5 points, winning the first state swim title in school history.
With Hakes leading the way, West finished second with 181 points. Waukee was third (177.5) just ahead of Macho and Linn-Mar (172).
“This meet showed a little bit of a shift,” said Linn-Mar co-coach Tom Belin. “There have been a number of years where the power at this meet has been with the Central Iowa schools. Today was a great showing for teams on our side of the state.”
West’s Hakes took top honors in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles. His winning 500 time (4:25.44) was almost 10 seconds better than runner-up Wesley Mooney of West Des Moines Dowling. He also anchored West’s winning 200-medley relay effort.
“I just feel blessed to be able to go out and perform like I did today,” he said. “I’m so grateful to all the other swimmers who pushed me and all my teammates who have been behind me all season.”
Hakes, an Arizona State commit, was humble even talking about his big win in the 500 and being one of the swimmers of the meet.
“I never felt like I was out there swimming alone,” he said. “Those guys are all good swimmers and they competed hard (in the 500).
“It was just amazing to have my name called (with Macho and Martin),” Hakes continued. “I’m just so thankful to be able to be a part of a meet with so many outstanding swimmers.”
Macho suffered through last weekend’s district meet, battling illness.
One week later, he turned in a pair of sick performances.
He got out fast in the 200 individual medley, then held off Cedar Rapids Washington’s Andrew Siefert to claim the title. Macho touched in 1:48.46, just ahead of Seifert’s 1:48.69. He controlled the 100 butterfly from start to finish to win in 47.97.
“Honestly, I was surprised,” he said. “It was just so cool to race with all of my I-Fly (club) friends and all my buddies on the team. I’m just so proud of the team and how it came together in the end.”
Macho, a Cincinnati commit, admitted it was tough to get through last week.
“I just had to have a change of mindset,” he said. “Last week wasn’t good, but I had a big rush of adrenaline today. I wanted to do well for my family and friends.”
Washington’s Seifert had a pair of runner-up finishes. He also took second in the 100 butterfly. Linn-Mar junior Hudson Huberg was second in the 100 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle. West’s Winston Fan was third in the 100 butterfly. Newton’s Martin won both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
FINAL TEAM SCORING
1. Dubuque Hempstead 213.5, 2. Iowa City West 181, 3. Waukee 177.5, 4. Linn-Mar 172, 5. Waukee Northwest, Cedar Falls 152, 7. Sioux City 123, 8. Bettendorf 112, 9. Pleasant Valley 98, 10. WDM Valley 92, 11. Dubuque Senior 88, 12. CR Washington 77, 13. Ankeny, WDM Dowling 67, 15. Boone 64, 16. Ottumwa 60, 17. Newton 58, 18. Carroll 51, 19. SE Polk 50, 20. CB Lewis Central 32, 21. Iowa City High 25, 22. Ames 24, 23. Grinnell 19, 24. Waterloo 15.
EVENTS
(Top 3 and Gazette-area athletes)
200-yard medley relay: 1. Iowa City West (Ethan Landon, Winston Fan, Hayden Hakes, Oliver Mikulski) 1:30.48, 2. Cedar Falls 1:34.23, 3. Waukee Northwest 1:34.77 9. Linn-Mar (Parker Macho, Owen Sieren, Carter Byers, Maxwell Macho) 1:36.98 12. CR Washington (Gavin Lucas, Andrew Seifert, Mateo Surma, Anthony Trotta) 1:37.28, 17. Iowa City High (Philip Berry-Stoelzle, Drew Brown, Woodbury Rogers, Braydon Calonder) 1:40.95, DQ: CR Kennedy (Tyler Brekke, Conner Below, AJ Miller, Brody Lamos) 1:43.29.
200 para freestyle: 1. Jaiden Lovelace (Sioux City) 3:00.05, 2. Isaiah Picard (Indianola) 4:05.18
200 freestyle: 1. Hayden Hakes (IC West) 1:37.29, 2. Teagen Renze (Carroll) 1:38.48, 3. Hudson Huberg (LM) 1:38.48, 13. Peter Wittnebel (CRW) 1:45.21 20. Braydon Calonder (IC High) 1:46.19, 29. Rylee Sieren (LM) 1:49.89
200 individual medley: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 1:48.46, 2. Andrew Seifert (CR Wash) 1:48.69, 3. John Trosper (Waukee) 1:52.07, 11. Owen Sieren (LM) 1:56.59, 22. Nikolai Paulson (IC West) 2:02.25, 29. AJ Miller (CR Kennedy) 2:05.15, 32. Jack Tunwall (IC West) 2:07.72
50 para freestyle: 1. Teagan Kinzie (Atlantic) 1:47.42
50 freestyle: 1. Finn Martin (Newton) 20.19, 2. Isaac Clark (Boone), 20.63, 3. Owen Leitzen (Dub. Hemp.) 20.81, 7. Oliver Mikulski (IC West) 21.42, 24. Maxwell Macho (LM) 22.27.
100 butterfly: 1. Parker Macho (LM) 47.97, 2. Dylan Alt (Waukee NW) 48.60, 3. Winston Fan (IC West) 48.93, 14. Ethan Landon (IC West), 52.03 18. Carter Byers (LM) 52.97
100 para freestyle: 1. Jaiden Lovelace (Sioux City) 1:24.69, 2. Isaiah Picard (Indianola) 1:47.44
100 freestyle: 1. Finn Martin (Newton) 44.64, 2. Hudson Huberg (LM) 45.47, 3. Kyle Powers (Dub. Hemp.) 45.73, 7. Philip Berry-Stoelzle (IC High) 46.53, 17. Braydon Calonder (IC High) 47.84, 31. AJ Miller (CR Kennedy) 50.25
500 freestyle: 1. Hayden Hakes (IC West) 4:25.44, 2. Wesley Mooney (WDM Dowling) 4:34.49, 3. Will Van Zee (WDM Valley) 4:36.55, 14. Peter Wittnebel (CR Wash) 4:51.51, 19. Remy Barton (CR Wash) 4:56.35, 22. Tyler Brekke (CR Kennedy) 5:00.93, 23. Evan Staber (IC West) 5:01.43, 24. Nikolai Paulson (IC West) 5:01.48, 27. Carter Below (CR Kennedy) 5:03.04, 31. Rylee Sieren (LM) 5:05.89
200 freestyle relay: 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Kyle Powers, Owen Leitzen, Mason Lemm, Logan Westhoff) 1:23.35, 2. Bettendorf 1:24.75, 3. Linn-Mar (Hudson Huberg, Owen Sieren, Riley Sieren, Maxwell Macho) 1:24.91, 7. 8. CR Washington (Andrew Seifert, Anthony Trotta, Gavin Lucas, Peter Wittnebel) 1:27.07, 22. Decorah (Reid Kuehner, Dane Burns, Landon Humpal, Ian Giddings) 1:32.32.
100 backstroke: 1. Dylan Alt (Waukee NW) 49.25, 2. Teagen Renze (Carroll) 49.44, 3. Ethan Landon (IC West) 50.38, 11.Maxwell Macho (LM) 52.87, 13. Oliver Mikulski (IC West) 53.22, 15. Gavin Lucas (CR Wash) 54.41, 27. Brody Lamos (CR Kennedy) 55.90
100 breaststroke: 1. Kiefer Roemer (Bett) 53.92, 2. Andrew Seifert (CR Wash) 55.43, 3. Winston Fan (IC West) 55.88, 10. Owen Sieren (LM) 57.55, 21. Jack Tunwall (IC West) 1:01.69
400 freestyle relay: 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Logan Westhoff, Kyle Powers, Jake Dolphin, Owen Leitzen) 3:05.04, 2. Iowa City West (Oliver Mikluski, Ethan Landon, Winston Fan, Hayden Hakes) 3:05.76, 3. Linn-Mar (Parker Macho, Rylee Sieren, Owen Sieren, Hudson Huberg) 3:06.51, 16. CR Washington (Remy Berton, Anthony Trotta, Peter Wittnebel, Gavin Lucas) 3:19.29 22.CR Kennedy (Brody Lamos, Tyler Brekke, Conner Below, AJ Miller) 3:22.38.