Preview: Iowa State

Like the 50 free, the 100 fly is a senior-led group led by the duo of Nan Liu and Abby Glaser. Liu took down Glaser’s school-record in the event in a time-trial meet before the Big 12 Championships, becoming the first Cyclone to go under the 54 second mark in the event with her time of 53.98.

“Sprint butterfly uses the same muscle groups as the sprint freestyle, so Abby Glaser and Nan Liu are our top-two people,” head coach Duane Sorenson said. “Nan set our school-record last year and Abby’s time is just a little behind that. Hopefully they will push each other all year and continue to excel in that event.”

With the two fast seniors at the top, Sorenson is not concerned about the current lack of depth behind them, but he will be looking for people to step up.

“We are hoping someone will step up but as of now, it’s wide open,” Sorenson added.

One of the Cyclones’ weaker events last season was the 200 fly. At the majority of meets, the Cyclones were being led in the event by two or three freshmen. With a year of experience under their belts, Sorenson is looking to them for improvement.

“We were young in that event last year with three freshmen taking the lead, now they are three sophomores,” Sorenson said. “They have a lot more experience and have been training nicely this fall. We are hoping that Meredith Doran, Taylor Vieau and Hannah McCulley just keep improving. Last year it was kind of a weak event for us and hopefully it will become a strong event with a year of experience.”

Backstroke

The backstroke might be Iowa State’s deepest event this season. In the 100, Liu took down the school record in her time-trial meet. The Cyclones also bring into the fold the 2008 Iowa Swimmer of the Year and state champion in the event, freshman Dani Harris.

“We have some new people coming in with Nan, who set a school record in the 100 back,” Sorenson said. “Dani Harris, she was Iowa Swimmer of the Year, set the state record in the event and she went even faster in the winter so we are looking for big things out of her. Incoming freshman Sarah Norris is looking really good as well.”

Another Cyclone to watch in the 100 is junior Megan Thompson. Thompson, who had only swam the event twice in the 08-09 season before the Big 12 Championships, went on to finish 12th with a time of 55.98, almost five seconds faster than her previous best.

“Megan was an afterthought last year at the Big 12 Championships and swam out of her mind,” said Sorenson. “We are now spending a little more time training the backstroke so she will come through also.”

Liu is one of three Cyclones to ever go under the 2:00 mark in the 200 back and leads another deep group. ISU returns four swimmers who are in its all-time top-10 in the event. The Cyclones could also see Harris and Norris contribute in the event in their freshman seasons.

“Dani hasn’t really swam that many 200’s but her times are very good,” Sorenson said. “Chelsea Tomek’s 200 looks really good and we might try Megan there. Like Dani, Sarah Norris has never swam the event, but we have been looking at trying her there in some of her training. Jenny (Vondenkamp) can swim it as well, so we have a lot of options there.”

Breaststroke

The Iowa State swimming and diving team was always a threat in the 100 breaststroke last season. The Cyclones won the event in all the meets that featured the event last season except for the Big 12 Championships, where they grabbed second and third. The Cyclones will be without Marni Benson, who earned two of those event wins, finished second at the Big 12 Championships in the event and is the current school-record holder in the event.

“Graduating a school-record holder in Marni Benson and Krista Moyer, who placed at the Big 12 Championships, it would seem tough to rebound from,” head coach Duane Sorenson said. “We have Jeli Nixt back and she was right behind Marni.”

Nixt, a junior, returns for the Cyclones, having won the 100 breast in seven meets last season and finishing only .12 seconds behind Benson in the event at the conference championships. She will take the lead for the Cyclones this upcoming season along with fellow junior Lindsey Frodyma and incoming freshman Marley Suckow.

Suckow earned high school All-America honors in the 100 breast and finished second at the KSHSAA state championships as a senior. Sorenson is pleased to have an experienced swimmer like Suckow coming into the lineup.

“Marley is an outstanding breaststroker with a lot of credentials coming in,” Sorenson said. “Looking at how she has been so far and making some slight technical changes has made her even better.”

The 200 breast lineup is the same as the 100 but Sorenson sees that as an area that Suckow can contribute to immediately.

“In the 200, it is the same group of people but I think Marley’s stroke and demeanor is more suited for the 200,” Sorenson said. “Jeli’s goal is to step up her 200 breast, she did good last year improving her 200, but I think she can go a little bit faster. Lindsey is also doing a really nice job.”

Individual Medley

The Cyclone lineup features many versatile swimmers and they will be looking for those swimmers to contribute in the individual medley events. Sorenson sees Lindsey Behrens and Dani Harris as the Cyclones top options at the 200-yard distance.

“Lindsey Behrens is our fastest returnee in the IM’s and we will probably swim her there quite a bit,” Sorenson said. “Lindsey is so versatile, we can swim her in many different races. Dani Harris is a tremendous in the IM. She is very strong in all four of her strokes so we are looking for a lot out of them.”

ISU only competed in the 400 IM twice in the regular season last year before the conference championships. ISU’s top returnee in the event is sophomore Taylor Vieau. Vieau was the only Cyclone to go under the 4:30 mark in the event last season. The Cyclones will also call upon junior Jackie Itzen and sophomore Hannah McCulley in the event.

“Taylor took the lead there and we will be looking for the same type of thing,” Sorenson said. “Jackie Itzen always has a good 400 IM in her each year, which usually appears at the Big 12 Championships, so we will be looking for a little more consistency out of her. Hannah has been training a lot of the different strokes so she can become a better in the 400 IM.”

Diving

Senior diver Tien Tran was one of four Big 12 women’s divers to lock up All-Big 12 honors in 1-meter, 3-meter and platform diving last season. She also moved up the Cyclones’ all-time list for all three last season, including breaking the school record on 3-meter. Diving coach Jeff Warrick is still finding ways to improve his star diver.

“We have been working on her twister,” Warrick said. “We have been taking apart the dive and changing technique on that dive and hopefully putting it back together.”

Warrick also noted that Tran is taking over as a leader in her final season.

“She’s done a really good job with that aspect and I know it is going to continue.”

With the departure of Kali Fryklund, ISU is in search of a new number two diver. Junior Abby Christensen along with sophomores Jenn Botsch and Sarah Nelson all contributed team points for the Cyclones at last season’s Big 12 Championships. Sophomore and Ames native Lauren Naeve also looks to make an impact.

“There are several divers who have a chance to become our number two diver,” Warrick said. “It is a little board-by-board. Abby is looking really good on 1-meter and she will be a contender on one and three-meter. Sarah will be a contender on 1-meter, Jenn’s strength is on the 3-meter but her 1-meter is improving too and Lauren’s strength right now is on 3-meter as well.”

Iowa State also sees another Ames native enter the diving well. Marley Dobyns is coming off of a second-place finish at the state championships last season. Warrick thinks that the first few meets are going to be a learning experience for the freshman.