The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team captured the Hawkeye Invitational title in Sunday’s final race at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Hawkeyes scored 918.5 points throughout the three-day event -- edging second-place Notre Dame (918).
“I’m thrilled with how we raced this weekend,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We had a lot of good races and some top performances. I’m happy to see the progress we’re making with a few new records and some NCAA ‘B’ cuts, but we still have some of our best racing ahead of us.”
The Hawkeyes entered the final race on Sunday -- the 400 free relay -- trailing Notre Dame by four and a half points. The quartet of sophomore Jackson Halsmer, juniors Jackson Allen and David Ernstsson, and senior Grant Betulius swam to a first-place finish touching in with a time of 2:55.44. With help from the University of Denver, it was enough to jump the fighting Irish on the leaderboard and claim the Hawkeye Invitational.
“We knew where we stood coming into the final race and what needed to go our way,” said Long. “We needed some big races from all our guys and they went out there and got it done.”
The Hawkeyes’ push for the postseason continued to inch closer as the men’s squad tallied six NCAA ‘B’ cut times. Three individuals -- Betulius, senior Chris Freeman, and junior Andrew Parker -- touched in with NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 200 backstroke. Betulius led the field with a first-place finish and a time of 1:42.19. Parker (1:45.79) finished fourth, and Freeman took sixth place with a time of 1:46.11 in the finals, after claiming his season-best time in the prelims (1:45.57).
Jerzy Twarowski had a strong showing in the 200 butterfly swimming to a first-place finish, an NCAA ‘B’ cut, and a school record-setting time of 1:44.00 -- besting Rafal Szukala’s 1992 NCAA Championship time of 1:44.73.
In the 1,650 free, freshman Chris Dawson swam to a third-place finish touching in with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 15:28.38.
Junior Roman Trussov rounded out the ‘B’ cuts for the Hawkeyes on Sunday in the 200 breaststroke. Trussov swam to a runner-up time of 1:55.95.
In the diving well, junior Addison Boschult set a new school record off the platform. The Omaha, Nebraska, native dove to a score of 394.35 in the prelims, and led the field in the finals diving to a first-place score of 388.35.
“Addison did great tonight diving to a school record in the prelims,” said UI diving coach Todd Waikel. “I couldn’t be more proud of him as a coach; he looked great and performed really well for us.
“This weekend served as a great warmup for senior nationals -- which are also a qualifier for the world games. For him to perform the way he did tonight is exactly where we want him heading into Senior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.”
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, Jan. 3rd at the St. Petersburg Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team clinched the three-day Hawkeye invitational Sunday night at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Hawkeyes registered 1,015.5 points -- outperforming second-place Denver (793), Washington State (628.5), UW-Wisconsin (390), Notre Dame (155), Nebraska (71), and Iowa State (40).
“I’m thrilled with how we raced this weekend,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We had a lot of good races and some top performances. I’m happy to see the progress we’re making with a few new records and some NCAA ‘B’ cuts, but we still have some of our best racing ahead of us.”
For the second-straight night, Olivia Kabacinski rewrote the UI record books -- this time with a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Kabacinski recorded an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the finals session, touching in with a record-setting time of 49.61.
Sophomore Emma Sougstad and junior Colleen Champa had a strong one-two showing in the 200 breaststroke after recording a pair of NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Sougstad took first with a time of 2:12.40 -- the second-fastest time recorded in UI history and Champa was close behind with a runner-up finish touching in at 2:12.71 -- the third-fastest time in UI history.
Senior Becky Stoughton rounded out the NCAA ‘B’ cut times for the Hawkeyes on Sunday after racing to a first-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle. The Peoria, Illinois, native touched in at the 16:21.97 mark, nearly 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
In the diving well, Iowa was represented by three divers in the finals and led the field with a combined 43 points. Sophomore Lydia Lehnert paced the Hawkeye diving with a third-place finish and a score of 257.90. Sophomore Calli Head finished fifth (231.40), and Kelba sixth (225).
The Hawkeyes return to action Friday, Dec. 12, hosting Iowa State in Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium at 6 p.m.
Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team finished their trip to Iowa Sunday in close contention for first place – unfortunately due to a relay disqualification, they finished in second to host Iowa, 918.5 to 918.
“We had a solid day of racing, and put ourselves in position to have a come from behind victory – unfortunately, we came up short by the smallest possible margin,” Irish head coach Matt Tallman says. “The guys should be very proud of their accomplishments this weekend, and be excited to get back to work for the championship segment of our season.”
the 1650 free kick-started the afternoon session, where 12 swimmers competed under Irish colors and six finished in the top 10. Freshman Benjamin Jany had the top time with his fourth-place finish (15:30.63), while John Nappi placed sixth (15:38.18); Joseph Petrone finished seventh (15:38.98); Trent Jackson earned eighth place (15:43.15) and Richard Mannix placed ninth (15:49.85). Senior Patrick Murphy rounded out the top 10 with his 15:52.14 showing.
In the 200 back, Robert Whitacre placed second in the prelims and earned his first career B cut, 1:45.52. He went on to place fifth in the finals (1:46.01). Other backstrokers for the Irish included Thomas Anderson (seventh, 1:47.14), James McEldrew (ninth, 1:49.19) and Bogac Ayhan (10th, 1:49.65).
In the 100 free, Justin Plaschka placed fourth (44.93) while Kevin Hughes took sixth (45.41). Freshmen Joseph Krause, Gabe Ostler and Harlin Bessire all had favorable times as well - Krause finished in 45.84; Ostler, 46.51; in the prelims, Bessire touched the wall in 47.25.
In the 200 breast, Zachary Stephens punched his ticket to NCAAs for the fourth time this weekend, earning a B cut and winning the finals with his 1:55.49 time. Patrick Olson finished fifth (2:01.88), and Cameron Miller (2:02.01) and Andrew Jensen (2:04.41) took sixth and eighth place respectively.
In the last solo event of the weekend, Jonathan Williamson took second in the 200 fly (1:44.18), earning his second ticket to NCAAs after his third-place finish in the 100 fly. In the prelims, Williamson had the top time of 1:44.37, out-touching Iowa’s Jerzy Twarowski, but Twarowski finished ahead of Williamson in the evening swim.
With the meet hanging on the line, the 400 free relay dove into the water, but the A-team lineup of Plaschka, Stephens, Krause and Hughes was disqualified. The B-team pairing of Jany, Jackson, Reed Fujan and Whitacre placed fourth (3:02.91).
In platform diving, senior Nick Nemetz had the top score with 294.35 and set a new school record in the platform event. He earned 13 points for the Irish and placed sixth, while Michael Kreft finished eighth (250.85) and scored 11 points for the team.
“ Our divers made a great effort to compete on the platform this weekend,” head diving coach Caiming Xie says. “This is the first time we’ve had a chance to practice and compete on the platform since our trip to Georgia Tech over fall break. I am so proud of Nick and Lindsey [Streepey] for setting the new school records in platform this weekend.”
Notre Dame will break for the Holidays and finals, before taking their annual trip to Puerto Rico for the Copa Coqui meet. They return to NCAA action on January 10th with another Big Ten road meet – this time at Michigan against Michigan and Northwestern.
University of Notre Dame women’s diving standout Lindsey Streepey lowered her own school record on the platform Sunday afternoon at the Hawkeye Invitational, as the Dallas, Texas native claimed her third runner-up finish of the weekend by racking up 267.35 points.
Streepey, who also placed second on the 1- and 3-meter boards earlier this weekend, upped her school mark by almost 21 points (246.60) set last year at the ACC Championships.
Joining Streepey in the finals was freshman Annie Crea (194.30), who placed eighth.
The platform closed out an outstanding meet for the Irish that saw senior Allison Casareto sweep the 1- and 3-meter dives, while breaking the meet record on the 1-meter, while junior Emma Gaboury claimed third place on the 3-meter and fourth on the 1-meter in addition to Streepey’s trio of second-place finishes.
Despite only competing in diving, the Irish placed fifth out of seven teams at the Hawkeye Invitational with 155 points.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
K.J. Heger, Natalie Johnson and Mandie Siehs all posted top-eight finishes and Maddy Nelson broke another freshman record to highlight the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swimming & diving teams’ solid final day of action at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center Sunday afternoon.
UWM finished with 262 points on the men’s side for fourth place and 390 points on the women’s side, also good enough for fourth. Host Iowa won the meet on both sides.
“This is always an exciting meet for us,” Milwaukee head coach Kyle Clements said. “We learned a lot about our team this weekend and we like what we learned. There were plenty of strong swims here this weekend, but this is just the midway point of our season. We have a lot of work yet to do but this is an encouraging look at what at what our team can do.”
One day after shattering the freshman record in the 100 backstroke, Nelson did it again on Sunday, this time topping the freshman mark in the 200 back. The newcomer touched the wall at 2:02.66, nearly half a second ahead of former Panther Erika Pliner’s previous record of 2:03.02 set back in 2011. Nelson’s time is also the fastest by a Horizon League swimming this year.
Johnson had the top individual finish of the day for UWM with a fourth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle. The sophomore touched the wall at 16:49.76 – the second-fastest time in the Horizon League thus far this season.
Senior Kenny Stelpflug led the way for Milwaukee on the men’s side, taking 12th overall at 15:53.73 – by far the fastest time in the league this season.
Heger was the top Panther diver on the day, taking seventh overall on platform with a tally of 292.15. Freshman Marcel Harris was 13th at 187.45, while Rachel Margis placed 11th on the women’s side at 176.35.
In the 100 freestyle, Siehs placed eighth out of 38 swimmers with a fantastic time of 51.18 – the fastest time in the league this season.
On the men’s side, Nick Menninga took 10th in 45.31 with senior Mike Lucchesi coming in 15th at 46.31.
The Panther men’s 400 free relay capped the meet with a strong fifth-place finish. Erik Wahlgren, Tanner Nimke, Lucchesi and Menninga combined to post a time of 3:03.22 – yet another league top time on the season.
On the women’s side, Anna Yontz, Johnson, Sierra Townsend and Siehs teamed up to take sixth in 3:29.36.
Milwaukee will now take a full month off from official competition. The Panthers will head to Florida in early January for its annual training trip before returning to the pool for a Jan. 16 meet at Northwestern.
Washington State
Junior Presley Wetterstrom set a school record in the 200 breaststroke, as the Washington State swim team concluded competition at the Hawkeye Invitational. Wetterstrom’s time of 2:12.96 in the prelims of the event shaved 0.40 seconds off the previous record held by Elyse Peterson (2:13.36, Feb. 28, 2009). The record was the second school record to fall at Iowa’s annual event, as the Cougars also set a program record in the 200 free relay (1:31.56) in the opening day of competition. WSU swimmers set 12 personal bests in the final day of the invite, adding to 37 personal bests set in the opening two days of the meet.
“We swam well today,” WSU Head Coach Tom Jager said. “The team finished the meet strong. We accomplished our goal of having a great final day. We’re pleased, but certainly not satisfied. We’re ready to get back to Pullman and improve for the next competition.”
In the A-final of the 200 breast, Wetterstrom (2:13.07) notched a fourth-place finish, while junior Frederikke Hall turned in a fifth-place time of 2:15.49. The time is personal best and the fifth-fastest time in Cougar history. Both juniors’ times are NCAA ‘B’ qualifying marks. The pair contributed 29 points to WSU’s total.
Fellow junior Loree Olson took second place in the A-final of the 200 back. The Rocklin, Calif., native touched the wall in 1:59.58, just ahead of teammate Shaya Schaedler in fourth place. Schaedler’s time of 1:59.99 is a personal best and placed her sixth on the Cougar all-time top-10 list.
The Cougars also garnered a second-place finish in the 200 fly, as sophomore Kendra Griffin clocked a time of 2:02.31. Griffin qualified for the A-final with a personal best of 2:01.50 in the prelims – the third-fastest performance in WSU history. Fellow sophomore Elise Locke followed closely behind with the fourth-fastest time in program history and a personal-best time of 2:02.59. Locke took third place in the A-final, as the duo grabbed the Cougars 33 points in the event.
The finals of the 100 free featured seven Cougar swimmers. In the A-final, junior Nicole Proulx clocked a time of 50.80, just beating out freshman Hannah Bruggman who turned in a personal-best time of 50.85. Bruggman’s time is tied for the sixth-fastest performance in program history. Senior Alison Mand notched a first-place finish in the event’s B-final. Mand finished in a time of 51.09 – a personal best and the 10th-fastest time in Cougar history. In total, WSU earned 47 points in the event.
In the final event of the evening, Washington State’s 400 free relay team of Mand, Proulx, Thompson, and Bruggman earned a third-place finish with a time of 3:23.29. Mand’s leadoff leg of 50.92 is a personal best for the 100 free and the 10th-fastest time in Cougar history. The WSU quartet earned 32 points.
In the 1650 free, Griffin turned in a time of 16:58.04. The seventh-place finish earned the sophomore 12 points. Griffin was followed by sophomore Emma Ronczkowski in ninth place. Ronczkowski finished in 17:20.99 and contributed nine points to the WSU total.
Anna Brolin took first place in the 200 fly B-final. The freshman out of Gilroy, Calif., clocked the seventh-fastest time in WSU history and set a personal best with a time of 2:04.38.
The Cougars earned 628.5 points in the meet and finished in third place. Host-school Iowa won the invitational with 1,015.5 points, followed by Denver (793) in second. Milwaukee finished fourth in the competition with 390 points. Washington State continues its season Jan. 23, 2015, traveling to face Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Nebraska
Nicole Schwery captured a first-place finish in the platform dive as the Nebraska diving team concluded competition at the Hawkeye Invitational.
Schwery posted a first-place score of 269.35 in the finals of the platform dive. In the preliminaries the Junior earned herself a score of 267.35. Francesca Giganti finished in fourth-place with a finals score of 241.95 and a score of 241.15 in the prelims.
The Nebraska swimming and diving team will be back in action Friday, Dec. 12, as the Huskers take on Northern Iowa. That meet will start at 5 p.m. and take place at the Devaney Natatorium. Check back in to Huskers.com for any and all updates regarding the Nebraska swimming and diving team.?
