Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – As Byron Butler worked on his assembling his lineup for the state swimming meet last season the West High coach quickly realized his team could win a state title the following season.

That foresight from Butler turned into reality for the Trojans on Saturday.

West High got an individual title from James Pinter in the 100 backstroke, had runner-up finishes in five other events and used it trademark depth and to pull away from the field to win the team title at the state swimming meet at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City.

“It’s been a goal for a long time,” Butler said. “There is nothing like it in the world. This team has been so close all season and to have so many guys contribute today is really special.”

West High finished with 262.5 points, outdistancing defending state champion Ankeny by 26.5 points to win its first title since 2015.

Waukee was third with 231 points followed by Bettendorf with 219 and City High with 160.

This day however, was all about West High which capped an unbeaten season with the third title in program history and first under Butler.

 “We all swim for each other and that’s one of the biggest things that we harped on was swimming with a lot of heart and using the opportunities that we had,” Pinter said. “We had 26 opportunities today and we raced all 26 of them for our teammates, for our brothers around us rather than the person in the water.”

West High won seven events and had a pair of two-event individual champions each year during its back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.

This time it was a total team effort that put West High back on top of the teams standings.

West High had multiple swimmers score points in seven of eight individual events and finished in the top three in all three relays on Saturday.

“In 2014 and 2015 we won basically because of five guys,” Butler said. “This team is so different. Everybody is a part of it, everybody was invested in the goal from day one and I just feel really, really honored to coach them.”

In all, 11 different West High swimmers scored in an individual event on Saturday with four different Trojans posting a top-four finish.

“We brought 13 people and every single one of them contributed somehow,” Pinter said. “Whether that was scoring points or cheering really loud. I can truly say this was a team championship. That is what we have been harping on all year is the depth that we have and every single swim matters.”

Pinter earned the first state title of his career after a pair of individual runner-up finishes last season.

The senior captain won the backstroke in 50.01, finishing nearly a full second in front of runner-up John Culver of West Des Moines Dowling.

Pinter was runner-up in the 200 freestyle for the second year in a row placing behind Ankeny junior Trent Frandson both times. Frandson broke the 35-year old meet record with a time of 1:35.68 on Saturday while Pinter was second in 1:38.24.

“I told Byron when I was on the podium that it took me five second places to get first finally,” Pinter said of his backstroke win. “On the career I got six second places and one first and one team championship and honestly I don’t care about any of the rest except for that team championship. That’s what I’ve been focused on all year and that’s what I’m most excited for.”

Freshman Diggory Dillingham was runner-up in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle and senior Izaak Hajek was fifth in the 100 butterfly and eighth in the 200 IM.

“It’s kind of been a goal of mine since freshman season and I definitely knew we were able to do it this year,” Hajek said. “With having everyone so involved with winning it, it was just a dream come true honestly.”

West High was tied with Ankeny with 205 points after nine events but finished with a flurry.

Three West High swimmers combined to score 23.5 points in the breaststroke for some breathing room.

Sophomore Jordan Christensen was second in 56.4, senior Tate Happel was 11th and sophomore Gavin Keeney was 16th.

“We were preaching all week if we could get it to the breaststroke that Tate, Gavin and Jordan were going to bring us home,” Butler said. “They absolutely did that, all three of them went lifetime bests even though two of them were tapered for districts. I just can’t say it enough. Top to bottom when one guy was down two guys brought him back up and that’s why we came away with it today.”

West High put the finishing touches on the title when Hajek, Dillingham, Luke Nichols and Pinter teamed up to finish second in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:05.45.

“Today our depth really showed,” Hajek said. “I didn’t win the 100 fly but people stepped up and we got those points back. People did what they were supposed to today and it all came together.”

State Swimming Meet

At University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center

Team scores – 1. West High 262.5; 2. Ankeny 236; 3. Waukee 231; 4. Bettendorf 219; 5. City High 160; 6. West Des Moines Dowling 156; 7. Linn-Mar 146; 8. Ames 99; 9. West Des Moines Valley 93; 10. Pleasant Valley 76.5; 11. Marshalltown 55; 12. Indianola 50; 13. Cedar Rapids Washington 41; 14. Johnston 38; 15. Decorah 35; 15. Sioux City Metro 35; 17. Spencer 33; 18. Davenport Central 29; 19. Carroll 27; 20. Muscatine 22; 21. Keokuk 21.5; 22. Cedar Falls 18; 23. Ottumwa 14; 23. Burlington 14; 25. Dubuque Senior 13; 26. Dubuque Hempstead 12; 27. Waterloo 10; 28. Des Moines Lincoln 7; 28. Des Moines Roosevelt 7; 30. Vinton-Shellsburg 5; 31. Williamsburg 4; 32. Newton .5

Individual winners; area competitors

200 medley relay – 1. City High (Caleb Coons, Forrest Frazier, Isaac Weigel, Bryce Edens) 1:31.58; 2. West High (James Pinter, Jordan Christensen, Izaak Hajek, Michael Kimball) 1:31.86

200 freestyle – 1. Trent Frandson (Ankeny) 1:35.68; 2. James Pinter (West High) 1:38.24; 4. Isaac Weigel (City High) 1:41.12; 12. Bryce Edens (City High) 1:45.04; 13. Damon Conzemius (West High) 1:45.41; 17. Nikolas Sung (West High) 1:46.97

200 individual medley – 1. Forrest Frazier (City High) 1:45.96; 6. Jordan Christensen (West High) 1:54.98; 8. Izaak Hajek (West High) 1:56.07; 18. Luke Nichols (West High) 1:59.99;

50 freestyle – 1. Charlie Bunn (Bettendorf) 20.18; 2. Diggory Dillingham (West High) 20.67; 10. Michael Kimball (West High) 21.58; 15. Kirk Brotherton (West High) 21.65

100 butterfly – 1. Andrew Reiter (Waukee) 48.93; 5. Izaak Hajek (West High) 50.14; 14. Luke Nichols (West High) 52.17; 15. Caleb Coons (City High) 52.37; 24. Any Luo (West High) 54.18  

100 freestyle – 1. Charlie Bunn (Bettendorf) 44.41; 3. Diggory Dillingham (West High) 45.85; 12. Michael Kimball (West High) 47.78; 17. Boyd Skelley (West High) 48.42

500 freestyle – 1. Trent Frandson (Ankeny) 4:26.27; 3. Isaac Weigel (City High) 4:35.91; 10. Damon Conzemius (West High) 4:48.14; 14. Andy Luo (West High) 4:51.54; 15. Bryce Edens (City High) 4:51.74; 22. Nikolas Sung (West High) 4:57.04

200 freestyle relay – 1. Bettendorf 1:23.18; 3. West High (Diggory Dillingham, Kirk Brotherton, Luke Nichols, Michael Kimball) 1:24.0; 23. City High (Mary Krysan, Joe Kueter, Will Larson, Chase Loftus) 1:33.55

100 backstroke – 1. James Pinter (West High) 50.01; 7. Caleb Coons (City High) 52.08; 19. Boyd Skelley (West High) 54.8;

100 breaststroke – 1. Forrest Frazier (City High) 53.15; 2. Jordan Christensen (West High) 56.4; 11. Tate Happel (West High) 1:00.72; 16. Gavin Keeney (West High) 1:01.31

400 freestyle relay – 1. Bettendorf 3:02.38; 2. West High (Diggory Dillingham, Luke Nichols, Izaak Hajek, James Pinter) 3:05.45; 5. City High (Forrest Frazier, Bryce Edens, Caleb Coons, Isaac Weigel) 3:07.88

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