Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

MARSHALLTOWN – West High was dealt some unexpected adversity prior to the girls’ swimming and diving state championships.

One of its sprinters and key relay contributors, senior Ella Hochstetler, was ruled out due to illness before Friday’s preliminary meet.

The loss of a swimmer seeded fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and sixth in the 50 freestyle could have been enough to send some teams into a tailspin.

For the Trojans, it was a chance to flash some talented depth on the state’s biggest stage.

“When we found out, we were all super disappointed,” West High senior Scarlet Martin said after the Trojans (216 points) edged West Des Moines Dowling by one point for third place overall in the team standings Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA. “But nothing we could do about it, so we kept our heads up. Got the job done. Super proud of how we finished overall.”

Three days after she officially signed her letter of intent to swim for the University of Iowa next year, Martin shined in her final high school meet.

The Olympic Trials qualifier won the 100 butterfly for the third year in a row with a time of 53.44 seconds, nearly a full half-second ahead of runner-up Mikayla Kloth of Ames.

“I am super happy with it,” Martin said. “Not the time I was hoping for, but I was still proud of myself. Just had to get in, race and that is exactly what I did.”

Martin is just the sixth butterfly swimmer in the 55-year history of the state meet to win the event three times, the first since Mason City’s Emma Sougstad (2009, 2011, 2012).

Only Martin, Kim Rogers of Cedar Falls (1999-2001) and Georganne Peterson of Glenwood (1980-1982) accomplished the feat in three consecutive years.

Martin also posted a runner-up individual finish in the 100 backstroke, an event she won last year.

She exits high school competition with five individual state championships and two relay titles.

“One of the best in the history of the state of Iowa,” West Coach Byron Butler said. “There is no doubt about that. So proud of her, what she has meant to the program.”

Hochstetler’s absence was sure to be felt in the 200 freestyle relay, where West was seeded second before preliminary competition.

Senior Lauren Trent was inserted into a quartet that included senior Olivia Taeger, junior Jade Roghair and Martin.

West High finished third in 1:36.83, which was good for consideration for All-American status.

“It is really great,” Roghair said. “Amazing to see that we can all still do this. We were able to make up all of the points without her, which is amazing.”

Roghair also helped West close the meet with a runner-up finish in a rousing 400 freestyle relay alongside Taeger, junior Makala Hajek and Martin.

In her individual distance events, she recorded a pair of standout individual performances by placing third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.58, then sixth in the 500 in 5:02.88.

“I was really happy with my 200 freestyle,” Roghair said. “My 500 was a little iffy, but we’ll come back next year and show what I can do.”

Waukee won the team title with 357 points, and defending team champion Ames was second with 260.

Without a host of additional point scorers like Hajek (200 individual medley), Taeger (200 individual medley, 100 free), Trent (200 free, 500 free), sophomore Kolby Reese (200 free, 500 free) and sophomore Carlee Wilkins (100 backstroke), West would not have been able to outlast Dowling in the team race.

Wilkins, Hajek, Trent and sophomore Karen Liu also scored points as a foursome in the 200 medley relay.

In Friday’s diving competition, West senior Samantha Klein finished third.

Only runner-up team finishes in 1983 and 2020 were better than this year’s third place performance in school history.

“I was very pleased,” Butler said. “We overcame some adversity with Ella being out. The girls really stepped up. Knew that third place, a trophy, was still a possibility. We out-performed our seeds from (the preliminary round). Not every swim was a great swim, but everyone came together as a team and we barely pulled it out. It was awesome.”

Iowa City High (27 points) finished 17th in the team standings behind a pair of standout times from freshman sprinter Grace Hoeper, who suprised even herself with a fantastic freshman season that ended with a sixth-place finish in the 50 freestyle (24.06) and fifth in the 100 (52.82).

“I definitely did not think I would be swimming in an ‘A’ final at a state meet,” Hoeper said of her outlook before the season. “I tried to have no expectations and I did not know what I was going to expect. So I was like, ‘OK, let’s try it and see how it goes.’”

State Swimming and Diving Meet

At Marshalltown YMCA

Team scores – 1. Waukee 357, 2. Ames 260, 3. Iowa City West 216, 4. West Des Moines Dowling 215, 5. Ankeny 168, 6. Johnston 162, 7. Linn-Mar 99, 8. Cedar Falls 90, 9. Bettendorf 85, 10. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 82, 11. West Des Moines Valley 81, 12. Davenport Central 69, 13. Pleasant Valley 67, 14. Newton 61, 15. Muscatine 52, 16. Carroll 36, 17. Iowa City High 27, 18. Dubuque Senior 22, 19. Waterloo Swim Club 20, 20. Des Moines Lincoln 18, 21. Grinnell 17, 22. Marshalltown 15, t23. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 14, t23. Lewis Central 14, 25. Sioux City Metro 13, t26. Dubuque Wahlert 12, t26. Perry 12, 28. Mason City 10, 29. Cedar Rapids Washington 7, t30. Boone 6, t30. Decorah 6, 32. Fairfield 1.

1-meter diving (Friday) – 1. Avery Hogan (Waterloo Swim Team), 470.10; 3. Samantha Klein (Iowa City West), 462.00; 18. Aimee Varga (Iowa City West), 286.50; 24. Gretta Stainer (Iowa City High), 178.85.

200 medley relay – 1. Ames (Jordon Kloth, Andra Robertson, Mikayla Kloth, Meghan Donald), 1:44.14; 12. Iowa City West (Carlee Wilkins, Makala Hajek, Karen Liu, Lauren Trent), 1:51.62.

200 freestyle – 1. Jessi Wigham (Waukee), 1:50.12; 3. Jade Roghair (Iowa City West), 1:52.58; 9. Kolby Reese (Iowa City West), 1:55.69; 12. Lauren Trent (Iowa City West), 1:57.10.

200 IM – 1. Olivia Swalley (Johnston), 2:01.85; 9. Makala Hajek (Iowa City West), 2:11.69; 11. Olivia Taeger (Iowa City West), 2:11.81.

50 freestyle – 1. Meghan Donald (Ames), 23.17; 6. Grace Hoeper (Iowa City High), 24.06.

100 butterfly – 1. Scarlet Martin (Iowa City West), 53.44.

100 freestyle – 1. Meghan Donald (Ames), 50.49; 5. Grace Hoeper (Iowa City High), 52.82; 7. Olivia Taeger (Iowa City West), 53.55.

500 freestyle – 1. Jessi Wigham (Waukee), 4:56.64; 6. Jade Roghair (Iowa City West), 5:02.88; 10. Kolby Reese (Iowa City West), 5:09.25; 12. Lauren Trent (Iowa City West), 5:14.86.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Ames (Sophie McCorkle, Saylor Horras, Mikayla Kloth, Meghan Donald), 1:35.00; 3. Iowa City West (Olivia Taeger, Lauren Trent, Jade Roghair, Scarlet Martin), 1:36.83; 17. Iowa City High (Averi Loria, Saoirse Miller, Amelia Lang-Fallon, Grace Hoeper), 1:42.65.

100 backstroke – 1. Grace Frericks (Cedar Falls), 54.67; 2. Scarlet Martin (Iowa City West), 54.92; 12. Carlee Wilkins (Iowa City West), 59.70.

100 breaststroke – 1. Olivia Swalley (Johnston), 1:02.98.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Waukee (Nora Kemp, Mallory Kell, Taylor Judas, Jessi Wigham), 3:28.09; 2. Iowa City West (Scarlet Martin, Makala Hajek, Olivia Taeger, Jade Roghair), 3:28.28; 28. Iowa City High (Kalea Seaton, Averi Loria, Margalit Frank, Grace Hoeper), 3:49.08.

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