Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

MARION – After finishing fourth at the state meet last season West High thought it could compete for a state title this season.

Throughout the regular season the Trojans have felt like a team capable of winning a championship.

West High certainly looked every bit like a state title contender on Saturday.

West High won nine events and had three runner-up finishes while running away with the team title at the regional swimming and diving meet at the Linn-Mar Aquatic Center in Marion.

“Our goal is to go to state and make a statement and do the absolute best that we can,” West High coach Byron Butler said. “We want to swim fast and hopefully it falls into place.”

West High placed fourth behind champion West Des Moines Dowling, runner-up Ames and Ankeny at the state meet last season.

The Trojans served notice on Saturday they plan to be in the championship mix next Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA.

Aurora Roghair and Scarlet Martin each won a pair of individual events and were part of the West High 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams that won titles as West High rolled up 528 points to finish 95 in front of runner-up Linn-Mar.

City High was fourth with 261 points.

“Those teams (Dowling, Ankeny and Ames) are really good and we are really deep team too,” Roghair said. “There are great teams at state but I know that we are really good too. It’s going to be fun.”

As usual, Roghair and Martin were at the front of the dominating West High performance

Martin set pool records in both of her individual events.

The junior won the 100 butterfly in 54.11 breaking the previous pool record of 54.48 set by Kelsey Drake of Linn-Mar in 2016.

Martin then set a pool and school record in the 100 backstroke, winning in a time of 55.85.

“I am really happy with my times today,” Martin said. “I came in and swam like this could be our last meet of the season and just swam my heart out and it went super well.”

Not to be outdone Roghair won titles in the 200 and 500 freestyles on her way to earning regional swimmer of the year honors.

“I was really happy with all my events,” Roghair said. “I am trying to enjoy all the little moments and not let them pass me by. I am really grateful for this whole year, it has been a little crazy but this is an amazing team.”

Roghair won the 200 freestyle in 1:49.49, finishing in front of her younger sister Jade who was runner-up in 1:55.34.

The older Roghair broke her own pool record that she set back on October 6 in the 500 freestyle.

Roghair won in 4:54.35 which was nearly a second faster than her record-setting time from earlier this season and was more than 10 seconds faster than City High junior Heidi Stalkfleet who was runner-up in 5:05.27.

“I knew that Heidi would be great competition to race and push each other, it was fun being able to swim next to her,” Roghair said. “I wasn’t exactly expecting that time but I was hoping to be somewhere around it.”

One of the reasons West High believes it will contend for a title next week is the help that Roghair and Martin had on Saturday.

Olivia Taeger won the 100 freestyle in 53.59 and Ella Hochstetler won the 50 freestyle in 24.34.

“We I definitely think we have the type of team that can win at state,” Martin said. “We have a really deep group it’s a really solid group of girls and I think we have that in the back of our minds going into state that we have a chance.”

Freshman Carlee Wilkins was runner-up to Martin in the 100 backstroke in 58.68 and Makala Hajek was runner-up in the 200 IM in 2:10.84.

The West High foursome of Wilkins, Hajek, Hochstetler, and Taeger won the 200 medley realy in 1:49.89.

“Freshman Carlee Wilkins went 58.6 in the back which is her lifetime best by a whole second,” Butler said. “Our medley relay going 1:49 they stepped up big time and they are flirting with a school record in that without Scarlet and Aurora on it which is really cool.

West High put an exclamation point on the day with a pool record in the 400 freestyle relay.

Jade Roghair, Taeger, Aurora Roghair and Martin won in 3:30.84.

“I was very happy with how they performed overall,” Butler said. “Top to bottom so really, really great performances, some unexpected, but just proud of them and proud of the way that they came together as a team.”

Stalkfleet added a runner-up finishes in the 100 butterfly to go with her second-place performance in the 500 freestyle to lead City High.

Rika Yahashiri was runner-up in the 50 freestyle in 24.72.

The City High team of Stalkfleet, Averi Loria, Kalea Seaton, Rika Yahashiri was runner-up in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:45.16.

Regional Swimming and Diving

Team scores – 1. West High 528; 2. Linn-Mar 433; 3. Cedar Rapids Washington 278; 4. City High 261; 5. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 201; 6. Williamsburg 150; 7. Tipton 147; 8. Keokuk 83

200 medley relay – 1. West High (Carlee Wilkins, Makala Hajek, Ella Hochstetler, Olivia Taeger) 1:49.89; 3. City High (Julia Berry-Stoelzle, Rika Yahashiri, Heidi Stalkfleet, Averi Loria) 1:53.24

200 freestyle – 1. Aurora Roghair (ICW) 1:49.49; 2. Jade Roghair (ICW) 1:55.34; 5. Kolby Reese (ICW) 1:59.71; 9. Grace Campion (ICH) 2:15.68

200 IM – 1. Hayley Kimmel (L-M) 2:08.64; 2. Makala Hajek (ICW) 2:10.84; 3. Olivia Taeger (ICW) 2:13.17; 5. Jenny Geng (ICW) 2:15.51; 10. Julianne Berry-Stoelzle (ICH) 2:28.04

50 freestyle – 1. Ella Hochstetler (ICW) 24.34; 2. Rika Yahashiri (ICH) 24.72; 4. Hailey Noel (ICW) 26.2; 5. Lauren Trent (ICW) 26.26

100 butterfly – 1. Scarlet Martin (ICW) 54.11; 2. Heidi Stalkfleet (ICH) 58.33; 3. Ella Hochstetler (ICW) 58.81; 5. Karen Liu (ICW) 1:01.82

100 freestyle – 1. Olivia Taeger (ICW) 53.59; 4. Makala Hajek (ICW) 54.66; 5. Lauren Trent (ICW) 56.79; 10. Kalea Seaton (ICH) 1:00.86

500 freestyle – 1. Aurora Roghair (ICW) 4:54.35; 2. Heidi Stalkfleet (ICH) 5:05.27; 3. Jade Roghair (ICW) 5:10.01; 4. Kolby Reese (ICW) 5:20.74

200 freestyle relay – 1. West High (Ella Hochstetler, Jade Roghair, Aurora Roghair, Scarlet Martin) 1:36.89; 6. City High (Averi Loria, Avery Loftus, Amelia Lang-Fallon, Kalea Seaton) 1:47.65

100 backstroke – 1. Scarlet Martin (ICW) 55.85; 2. Carlee Wilkins (ICW) 58.68; 4. Vivian Gibson (ICW) 1:02.05; 5. Julianne Berry-Stoelzle (ICH) 1:03.58

100 breaststroke – 1. Hayley Kimmel (L-M) 1:05.55; 2. Rika Yahashiri (ICH) 1:10.68; 4. Jenny Geng (ICW) 1:13.24; 7. Vivian Gibson (ICW) 1:13.95; 9. Margaret Liu (ICW) 1:15.89; 10. Avery Loftus (ICH) 1:16.48

400 freestyle relay – 1. West High (Jade Roghair, Olivia Taeger, Aurora Roghair, Scarlet Martin) 3:30.84; 2. City High (Heidi Stalkfleet, Averi Loria, Kalea Seaton, Rika Yahashiri) 3:45.16

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