The University of Iowa’s 200-yard freestyle relay swam to a school record during the opening day of the Hawkeye Invitational on Friday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
The quartet of junior Olivia Kabacinski, sophomore Emma Sougstad and freshmen Meghan Lavelle and Mekenna Scheitlin swam to a time of 1:31.30 to open up Friday’s final session. The previous record of 1:31.68 was set during the 2012 season.
“It was a good day; we got some NCAA cuts and set some good records,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We’re looking forward to getting back in the pool tomorrow with some more swims and dives.”
Junior Olivia Kabacinski recorded an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 22.88 in the 50 free. Kabacinski qualified for the finals with season-best time of 22.80.
Senior Becky Stoughton kept the momentum rolling in the 500 freestyle after swimming to a season-best time of 4:47.40.
The Hawkeyes had a strong showing in the prelims for the 200 individual medley event. During the qualifying session, Iowa placed five Hawkeyes into the eight-person ‘A’ final. Sophomore Emma Sougstad, who swam to a qualifying time of 2:00.94 in the prelims, paced the field swimming to a time of 2:01.13 in the finals. Juniors Colleen Champa and Allison Orvis were close behind taking second and fourth place. Champa finished second with a time of 2:02.19; Orvis placed fourth touching in at 2:04.31.
The quartet of Sougstad, senior Summer Campbell, junior Olivia Kabacinski, and freshman Rowan Hauber swam to a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay, coming in with a time of 3:41.66.
In the diving well, senior Joelle Christy led the Iowa divers on the 1-meter with a score of 283.40 in the finals. Fellow senior Lauren Kelba was just behind with a sixth-place finish after diving to a score of 270.45.
“It went great, I was very pleased to get three girls into the finals,” said UI diving coach Todd Waikel. “That’s the first step -- getting into the finals. Once you’re there, you get the opportunity to battle again. Joelle, for example, was nearly 20 points higher tonight than she was this afternoon, that’s what you want as a coach.
“When we get to finals, I want us to step up and get even better, and that’s what we did tonight. I’m very pleased with the way we battled tonight and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The Hawkeyes are in second place through day one with 220 points. Denver is leading the way with 238 points, Washington State is third (163) and Milwaukee is fourth with 92 points.
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming & diving team got off to a fast start at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational Friday, earning eight top-5 finishes in the swimming events. Divers Joseph Coumos and Michael Kreft finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 3-meter competition.
“We had a strong first day,” Irish head coach Matt Tallman reflects. “The guys made some good adjustments between the prelim swims and the finals. We have our work cut out for us if we are going to win the meet, but today, we were able to accomplish a lot of positives.”
The morning preliminary session started with the 500 free, where no less than 16 Irish entrants competed for a chance to swim in the evening final race. Jonathan Williamson emerged with the top time in the morning – fifth place, 4:27.77 – followed by Joseph Petrone (eighth, 4:28.92), Thomas Anderson (11th, 4:29.81) and Patrick Murphy (12th, 4:30.74). Benjamin Jany, Richard Mannix, John Nappi and James McEldrew rounded out the top 20.
In the finals, Williamson again placed fifth with his 4:27.38 showing, earning 14 points for the Irish. Petrone finished tied for seventh, touching the wall in 4:29.38 and tallying 11.5 points.
In the 200 IM, Zachary Stephens had his strongest showing of the season thus far, earning an NCAA B cut in the preliminaries with his 1:44.26 time. Kevin Bradley finished fifth in 1:49.93, while Reed Fujan earned a sixth-place finish with his 1:50.09 showing. Patrick Olson, Thomas Anderson and Cameron Miller finished eighth ninth and tenth, respectively.
In the finals, Olson swam to a dramatic finish, claiming third place (1:49.56), while Anderson finished fifth (1:49.87) and Kevin Bradley placed seventh (1:50.25).
In the last preliminary swim of the morning, Justin Plaschka finished eighth in the 50 free (20.75), just barely missing the NCAA B Cut. He swam to a second-place finish in the finals, posting a 20.22 time.
In the relay events, the A team (Stephens, Plaschka, Olson and Bradley) took second in the 200 free (1:20.63), while the pairing of Bogac Ayhan, Stephens, Williamson and Plaschka claimed first in the 400 medley relay – 3:13.25 – and earned a whopping 40 points for the Irish. Stephens’ lead-off split time of 20.02 marked his second B-cut qualifier of the day.
In diving, in addition to Coumos’s and Kreft’s top-5 finishes, Nick Nemetz took 10th (296.50), Ted Wagner finished 12th (289.00), Peter Myers placed 13th (271.00) and James Lichtenstein claimed 15th (254.00). the 1-meter event will take place tomorrow as swimming resumes.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming & diving teams placed an outstanding 24 individuals in the evening final sessions in a strong first day at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center pool Friday.
UWM finished the day with 99 points on the women's side for fourth out of seven and 87 on the men's for fourth of five.
Milwaukee kicked off the first night in fine fashion in the 200 free relay. Anna Yontz, Hannah Lucas, Sierra Townsend and Mandie Siehs combined to take fourth in 1:34.03, while Nick Menninga, Erik Wahlgren, Max Ward and Tanner Nimke teamed up to touch the wall at 1:23.42 for fifth on the men's side. Both times were season bests.
Natalie Johnson then carried that hot start over into the 500 free, where she took fifth overall in the A-final in 4:55.76 – nearly 10 seconds ahead of her previous season best. Freshman Sami Stelpflug competed in the B-final and came in 16th in 5:03.11.
On the men's side, Nic Halverson led three Panthers at 4:34.34 – 10 seconds faster than his previous season best – for 20th overall.
Milwaukee had a slew of strong showings in the 50 free. On the women's side, Yontz won the B-final in a blazing 23.31, just shy of her lifetime best and not far from the school record. Siehs came in 11th in 23.55, while Townsend was 18th at 23.85.
Meanwhile, Menninga posted the top time for UWM on the men's side at 20.84 for 10th overall. Nimke was 14th after a lifetime-best time of 20.87 in the morning prelims.
K.J. Heger continued his remarkable season to headline Milwaukee's diving efforts on the day. The senior nearly broke his own school record in prelims with a mark of 370.70 and came in sixth overall in finals. Rachel Margis came in 10th at 238.25 to lead the women's squad.
In the 200 IM, Townsend led the way for the Panther women, taking 15th at 2:07.64, while Joe Chokran touched the wall first for the Milwaukee men and 21st overall at 1:54.61.
UWM wrapped up the night with a seventh place showing in the women's 400 medley relay as Sara Bentley, Lucas, Kady Ruemmele and Siehs teamed up for a time of 3:49.91. On the men's side, John Kangas, Chokran, Ward and Menninga finished in 3:24.12 for ninth overall.
Washington State
The Washington State University swim team opened competition at the Hawkeye Invitational with a splash, setting a school record in the 200 free relay. The Cougar team of Alison Mand, Hannah Bruggman, Nicole Proulx, and Haley Rose Love clocked a time of 1:31.56 to finish in third place. Mand led the team with a leadoff leg of 23.11 seconds, a personal best and the third-fastest time in Cougar history. The time was one of 17 personal bests by the WSU women in the opening day of Iowa’s annual invite.
“We had some great swims today,” Cougar Head Coach Tom Jager said. “We did well, but we’re always looking to get faster and we’re hoping to improve tomorrow.”
Washington State qualified nine competitors for the 50 freestyle finals. In the A-final, Mand took fifth place with a time of 23.25. The senior was followed closely by Bruggman (23.37) and Love (23.42) in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Bruggman qualified for the A-final with a personal-best time of 23.35, the sixth-fastest time in Cougar history. WSU earned 41 points in the event, as senior Nicole Proulx (23.53, 10th), redshirt-freshman Anna Rosen (23.90, 14th), and freshman Anna Brolin (24.03, 15th) added points in the B-final.
The evening’s 500 free B-final featured three WSU swimmers. Freshman Rachel Thompson notched the fifth-fastest time of the evening, touching the wall in 4:55.09. The time was a personal best for Thompson, earning the Santa Ana, Calif., native nine points and the sixth-fastest time in WSU history. Sophomore Elise Locke (4:56.80) finished one spot back from Thompson, with a personal best and the eighth-fastest time in WSU history. Fellow sophomore Kendra Griffin finished in 4:58.44 to earn five points for the Cougars.
In the 200 IM A-final, Proulx took fifth place (2:05.43) to earn 14 points for the Crimson and Gray. Proulx qualified for the top flight with a personal record in the event prelims, clocking a time of 2:04.90. Junior Loree Olson found her way into the A-final of the event with a personal-best time of 2:02.61. The time placed her fourth on WSU all-time list. Fellow juniors Shaya Schaedler and Frederikke Hall earned seven and six points, respectively. Schaedler clocked the sixth-fastest time of the finals, touching the wall in 2:04.95. Hall took 11th place in the event with a time of 2:05.09. Both juniors set personal bests with their performances.
In the 400 medley relay, the WSU team of Mand, Hall, Brolin, and Bruggman finished in third place to earn the Cougars 32 points. WSU finished the opening day of competition in third place with 163 points. Host-school Iowa (220) sits in second place, while Denver (238) leads the competition.
Nebraska
Sophomore diver Anna Filipcic claimed fifth-place in the one-meter dive this evening at the Hawkeye Invitational, completing day one of competition for the Huskers.
Filipcic earned fifth-place posting a score of 276.85 in the one-meter event. Iowa's Joelle Christy was the lone Big Ten diver to finish ahead of Filipcic, finishing third with a score of 283.40. Filipcic did post the best score during the one-meter's preliminary round, taking first in the prelims with a score of 301.40.
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame women’s divers got their final meet of 2014 off to a rousing start Friday afternoon, as the Irish claimed three of the top four spots on the 1-meter board.
Highlighting the day was senior Allison Casareto, who broke the meet record with 321.40 points.
Junior Lindsey Streepy placed second with 285.45 points, while fellow junior Emma Gaboury claimed fourth with 278.05 points.
