The Boone girls’ swimming team had all three relays and 10 individual entries earn berths for the state meet at the regional meet Saturday, November 7, at Ankeny.
“It was a great day in Ankeny!” head coach Chris Mann said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our girls. ”
Record-setting relays
The Toreadors won the regional title and set a new school record in the 200 freestyle relay, where Avery Howie, Quinn Houston, Ellie Hughes, and Aleah Karolus finished with a time of 1:38.83.
The 200 free relay is seeded sixth at state.
Boone’s 400 freestyle relay team of Houston, Howie, Kilee Hughes, and Karolus also set a school record and were regional runner-up with a time of 3:38.70.
The 400 free relay will be seeded 10th at state.
“This is the most qualified events we’ve ever had, previously having 7 events qualify,” Mann said. “And we had two new school records in the free relays. ”
The 200 medley relay team of Makenzie Klatt, Ellie Hughes, Claire Enabnit, and Finley Houser also earned a state berth after swimming a 1:54.28 at the regional meet.
The 200 medley relay is seeded 19th at state.
Individuals advance to state
Karolus touched the wall in 24.15 seconds and placed second to qualify for state in the 50 freestyle.
She also qualified in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.03 seconds, also finishing second.
Karolus will be seeded fourth in the 50 free and ninth in the 100 free for state.
Howie also qualified individually in two events, swimming a 24.61 in the 50 freestyle to finish third and a 1:01.63 in the 100 backstroke, also finishing third.
Howie will be seeded 10th in the 50 free and 18th in the100 back for state.
Enabnit earned a state berth in the 200 individual medley after posting a 2:19.98 and finishing sixth.
Enabnit will be seeded 29th in the 200 IM for state.
Ellie Hughes advanced in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:10.71 and finished third.
Ellie Hughes is seeded 22nd in the 100 breast for state.
Kilee Hughes qualified in two events, swimming a 2:00.19 in the 200 freestyle for fourth place and a 5:28.99 in the 500 freestyle for fifth place.
Kilee Hughes is seeded 25th in the 200 free and 31st in the 500 free for state.
Houston rounded out Boone’s individual qualifiers, placing third in the 100 freestyle with a 55.45 and sixth in the 200 freestyle with a 2:00.41.
Houston is seeded 27th in the 200 free and 29th in the 100 free for state.
The 2026 Iowa Girls State Swimming & Diving Meet will be held Thursday and Friday, November 12 and 13, at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.
Prelims will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, and finals will begin at 11 a.m. Friday.
“It should be a great meet in Iowa City this week!” Mann said.
Jill Lutz reporting
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