Altoona Sports Notebook: Southeast Polk boys golf finishes second at Ankeny invite
The Southeast Polk swim team has gotten its season going with a few meets under its belts now.
The Rams took on Johnston on Sept. 6, falling 144-42.
Head coach Madelyn Kieler said since the meet would be the Dragons’ first of the season compared to Southeast Polk’s third, the Rams tried out some new events for training events to improve their main events.
“We were really, really happy with some of the things we saw,” Kieler said. “Seeing those different events gives us a new perspective in order to help them in their main events and things that they may need to improve that we haven’t noticed or seen.”
Kieler added that the Rams have been working a lot on the sprint freestyle this season, and she said she is seeing the work pay off, with Southeast Polk having some of the fastest sprinters in a while. Kieler said five swimmers have recorded 26-second times in the 50 free.
Southeast Polk is now about a month into the season, already having competed in two duals and an invitational. The Rams won their first meet over Indianola and placed second in the Fort Dodge Triangular.
Kieler said the team has had a strong start to the season, adding that she knew Indianola would be tough.
“Our depth on our team is not 100% there yet, and so that [Indianola meet] was kind of a battle and we were able to pick up ahead of their second and third swimmers, so that was really great,” Kieler said.
She added that the Fort Dodge Triangular was a great meet for the team because a lot of the girls swam lifetime bests in multiple events.
Although the Rams may not have the greatest depth quite yet, Kieler is already seeing some new faces step up this season.
Sophomore Jordan Fertig and junior Elizabeth Douglas have both contributed to some of Southeast Polk’s early success this season.
Kieler said while Fertig had speed last year, she is doing more events this season, however, Kieler is happy with the speed Fertig returned so early on.
“I’ve been really, really impressed with [Douglas], against our meet at Fort Dodge, she swam her fastest 100 fly in I think two years,” Kieler said. “So she beat the taper time that she had posted last year, and so she is off to just a great start to her season.”
The Rams are a relatively young team, with only two seniors on the roster, and Kieler said it is exciting for her to see how the team grows and changes over the season and the years.
While she’s excited to see the Rams improve, she said the goal for the Rams is to just stay focused and in the moment.
She added that good sportsmanship is also something Southeast Polk takes pride in.
“Our girls have taken sportsmanship to heart, very significantly,” Kieler said. “... to watch girls be their best selves and inspire other young girls has been amazing.”
Kieler added that last season, a parent from Indianola took notice of the Rams’ sportsmanship at the meet and posted about it on Facebook.
Following the Linn-Mar Invitational on Sept. 10, Southeast Polk will take on Waukee at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 at Waukee YMCA.
Southeast Polk boys golf competes at Ankeny
The Southeast Polk boys golf team competed at the Ankeny Invite on Sept. 7.
Against 10 other teams, the Rams placed second with a final team score of 289. Dowling Catholic just edged out the Rams for first with a score of 288 while Valley took third with a score of 297.
Leading Southeast Polk was junior Sam Wahman, who finished as the meet runner-up with a score of 71. Junior Aaron Estell also scored a 71, finishing in fifth.
Also scoring for the varsity total was senior Zach Julander, who placed 12th with a score of 73, and junior Landen Van Erem, who scored a 74 to place 15th.
The Rams will look to build on their performance when they next compete at the Turk Bowman Invite at 10 a.m. Sept. 12 at Veenker Memorial Golf Course.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Altoona Sports Notebook: Southeast Polk competes in swimming, golf
