Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – Today’s edition of the Best Teams from the KICD 9-County Area in the 2025-2026 year features the Spencer Girls Swimming Team.

The Tiger Swimmers had a lot of success in the 2024 season, placing top 15 in the State of Iowa as a team. There were some significant pieces that graduated from that group, but some exciting young athletes returning for the Tigers for the 2025 season.

The season opened up in late August on the road against Algona. Spencer had a winner in all but 3 swimming events, coming away with a 108-74 win in the dual.

The Tigers would take on Lewis Central of Council Bluffs and Sioux City Metro in Sioux City for a Pentathlon Invite. Halle Sears came away with a 2nd place finish in the 50-Yard Free, a win in the 50y Fly, win in the 50y Backstroke, win in the 50y Breaststroke, and a 2nd place finish in the 100y Individual Medley. Spencer ended up 3rd out of those teams in that Invite.

The First big event of the year was the Riverhawk Invitational in Mason City. Sears won the 200y Individual Medley for the Tigers and came back to the pool to win the 100y Fly as well. Ava Vogt would get a 5th place finish in the 100y Free. Spencer put together a 200y Free Relay team of Sears, Maisy Schmidt, Aubrey McFarland, and Gretchen Haak that took 2nd. McFarland gave the Tigers a 4th place finish in the 100y Backstroke. Spencer took 4th out of 7 teams in that invite.

A week later, the Tigers competed at the Wahawk Invite in Waterloo. Sears finished 1st in the 200y Free with teammate Anna Quanbeck finishing 5th. Jade Henson was 4th in the 200y Individual Medley for Spencer and Maisy Schmidt was 3rd in the 50-Yard Free. McFarland was 3rd in the 100y Free. The Spencer team of Schmidt, Vogt, McFarland, and Sears won the 200y Free and Halle Sears picked up another win in the 100y Backstroke. Henson took 5th in the 100y Breaststroke. It was a 2nd place finish for Spencer in the 400y Free with a team of Sears, Vogt, Schmidt, and McFarland. Spencer took 4th out of the 8 teams.

In the Gary Winkler Invitational, hosted by Fort Dodge, Halle Sears took 2nd in the 200y Free, then McFarland and Schmidt went 3rd and 4th respectively in the 50y Free. Sears won the 100y Fly and Vogt took 2nd in the 100y Free with Schmidt finishing 4th. Lauren Stuckey gave Spencer a 4th place finish in the 500y Free with Hallie Brown taking 5th. Spencer’s team of Schmidt, Vogt, McFarland, and Sears was 2nd in the 200y Free. McFarland won the 100y Backstroke and Jade Henson took 5th in the 100y Breaststroke. Spencer capped off the Invite with a win in the 400y Free with a team of Schmidt, Vogt, McFarland, and Sears. Spencer took 2nd out of the 5 teams.

Spencer would pick up another win against Algona on September 23rd and won the Atlantic Triangular against the Trojans and Carroll. They would win another Triangular involving the Tigers with Fort Dodge also attending. In a home Triangular against Sioux City Metro and Algona, Spencer split with a 3rd win on the year against the Bulldogs and losing to Sioux City.

The Tigers wrapped up their regular season invite schedule at the Melissa Fender Memorial in Council Bluffs hosted by Lewis Central. Haak, Quanbeck, McFarland, and Vogt combined for a 3rd place finish in the 200y Medley Relay. Stuckey took 5th in the 200y Free for Spencer. Sears was 2nd in the 200y Individual Medley then Schmidt took 2nd in the 50y Free. Sears got a win in the 100y Fly and Vogt was 3rd in the 100y Free. Spencer’s team of Schmidt, Vogt, McFarland, and Sears was 2nd in the 200y Free. McFarland took 3rd in the 100y Backstroke. The Tiger team of Schmidt, Vogt, McFarland, and Sears was 3rd in the 400y Free to finish off the Invite. The Tigers took 3rd out of the 5 teams.

After a loss to Sioux City Metro to finish the year, Spencer went to Mason City for the Regional Meet. Sears took 2nd in the 200y Individual Medley then won the 100y Fly. Spencer’s team of McFarland, Schmidt, Vogt, and Sears was 3rd in the 200y Free Relay. Spencer finished 5th at the Regional Meet out of 8 teams.

At the IGHSAU State Championships at the University of Iowa Aquatic Center in Iowa City, Halle Sears hit the podium with a 6th place time of 2:08.36 in the 200y Individual Medley. Sears would then take 4th in the 100y Fly with a time of 57.07.

Spencer as a team took 23rd out of 30 scoring teams at the State Swimming Championships and bring a lot of production back for the 2026 season.

This has been another best team of the KICD 9-County Area in the 2025-2026 year. We will be moving on to Winter Sports in the next edition.