Iowa, Purdue and Missouri State battled during a tri-meet on Friday in Iowa.
Iowa Press Release
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted Missouri State and Purdue in a triple dual on Friday at the CRWC Natatorium. The Hawkeye men topped both Purdue (151-149) and Missouri State (176-118), while the women split, topping the Bears (237-622) and falling to the Boilermakers (178-122)
“Tonight was a great effort on the boards and in the pool,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “I am really proud of the team for stepping up and competing, and of course, for the men for picking up that victory at the end. Tonight was a lot of fun.”
In the pool, the men posted seven individual victories and two relay wins, while the women collected five individual victories.
Kenneth Mende and Jack Smith each posted a pair of individual victories on Friday. Mende touched first in the 100 (48.98) and 200 back (1:47.10), swimming to season best times in both events. Smith sprinted to first-place finishes in the 50 and 100 free, recording times of 20.21 and 44.70 -- both times are a team best this season.
Mende and Smith were also part of Iowa’s winning 200-medley relay (1:30.64), which included junior Jerzy Twarowski and freshman Isaak Webb. Smith notched one more victory as a member of Iowa’s first place and meet-deciding 400 free relay (2:59.99)
Freshman Michael Tenney and junior Jerzy Twarowski notched Iowa’s final two victories of the night. Tenney won the 500 free (4:29.41) and Twarowski won the 100 fly (48.74).
Senior Emma Sougstad’s impressive week got even better. After winning two events during Thursday night’s dual against South Dakota, the reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week won three more on Friday afternoon. Sougstad swam to victories in the 100 and 200 breast and the 200 IM, posting times of 1:01.71, 2:17.16, and 2:04.04. Sougstad was also a member of Iowa’s top 200-medley relay that featured juniors Meghan Lavelle and Mekenna Scheitlin, and sophomore Kelly McNamara. The quartet placed second (1:42.18).
Iowa added two more first-place showings in the 50 and 100 free. Scheitlin won the 50 free with a time of 23.45, while freshman Hannah Burvill recorded the first win of her Hawkeye career in the 100 free (51.00). Burvill placed second in the 200 free (1:50.01) and 500 free (4:59.12)
In the diving well, sophomore Will Brenner was Iowa’s top finisher in both the 1 and 3-meter. He dove to a second-place finish in the 1-meter (361.75) and placed fourth in the 3-meter (324.40). Freshman Thelma Baatz-Strandberg posted the first victory of her career, winning the 3-meter with a score of 307.05.
Next up for the Hawkeyes is a trip to Columbus, Ohio, for the Ohio State Invitational from Nov. 18-20.
Purdue Press Release
Both Purdue swimming and diving teams had two student-athletes win at least a pair of events to lead the way in triple-dual action with Iowa and Missouri State on Friday.
The Purdue women won 10 of the 16 events, improving to 5-1 in duals this season with the head-to-head wins against the Hawkeyes (178-122) and MSU (252-48). The Purdue men were victorious in six events. They’re 2-2 in duals this year after the triple-dual split, topping Missouri State 194-100 but losing to Iowa 151-149. The Hawkeyes finished first and third in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to rally past the Boilermakers.
Kaersten Meitz was a three-time winner, posting a pair of NCAA provisional-qualifying times with an impressive sweep of the 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle races. She also swam the leadoff leg on the victorious 400 free relay to close out the meet. She established new Purdue season-best times in the 100, 200 and 500 free Friday and has now won a team-high eight individual events this season.
Marat Amaltdinov, Meagan Lim and Steele Johnson were two-time winners in individual events for the Boilermakers. Amaltdinov swept the breaststroke events with a pair of season-best times for the second Friday in a row, improving on his NCAA provisional-qualifying times. Johnson swept the springboard diving events to improve to 7-for-8 in event victories this season. Lim swept the butterfly events and helped the Purdue women open the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay.
Maddie Barta (200 back), Emily Meaney (1-meter diving) and Jackie Smailis (100 back) also won an individual event for the Purdue women. Smailis was the Boilermakers’ top finisher in three individual events after taking second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 free. She anchored the 400 free relay team to victory as well.
Filip Bujoczek (200 free) and Nick McDowell (1,000 free) rounded out the list of individual event winners for the Purdue men. Both posted a new Purdue season-best time in their victorious performance. McDowell was out touched by 13 hundredths of a second in the 500 free by Iowa’s Michael Tenney. It marked the first time this season McDowell did not win an individual event in which he competed; he was a perfect 7-for-7 entering 500 free Friday.
Jinq En Phee posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying time and Purdue season-best mark while finishing as the runner-up in the 100 breast.
Alex Clarke (200 IM), Austin Flager (100 fly), Kiki Komlenic (100 back), Grant Lewis (200 fly), Emily Meaney (1-meter diving), Adam Noens (200 back), Eddy Zawatski (50 free), Lim (100 fly) and Smailis (50 free, 100 back) all joined Amaltdinov, Bujoczek, McDowell, Meitz and Phee as Boilermakers to post a new team season-best time/score in at least one event Friday. Danielle Auckley swam on both relay winners.
The Purdue women posted one-two finishes in both backstroke events, 1-meter diving and the 1,000 free. They had at least three of the top finishers in nine events.
The Purdue men were at their best in the 100 back and the diving events. Johnson led a 1-2-3 finish in 3-meter diving. And despite not winning the event, the Boilermakers had four of the top five finishers in the 100 back.
Friday’s meet was Purdue’s final duals of the fall semester. Emmy Rawson, Amaltdinov, Meitz and Noens will compete for the Big Ten team next weekend (Nov. 12-13) at the inaugural USA College Challenge in Indianapolis. The Boilermakers close out their fall-semester schedules the following weekend when the swimmers compete at Virginia Tech’s H2Okie Fall Invitational and the divers takes to the boards at IUPUI’s House of Championships Invitational.
Missouri State Press Release
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team suffered losses to both the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Purdue Boilermakers on the campus of the University of Iowa, Friday afternoon.
The Missouri State women fell 237-62 to host Iowa and 252-48 to Purdue. The women’s side was highlighted by Sydney Zupan, Sarah Allegri and Lauren Pavel, who all earned top-finishes for the Bears. The men found a similar fate, falling to the Hawkeyes by a score of 176-118 and 194-100 to the Boilermakers of Purdue. Artur Osvath and Minki Kang were top performers for the men, bringing in first and second-place finishes.
“We saw some nice improvement in a lot of areas today,” head coach Dave Collins said. “I’m excited about the results of the first cycle of training as we prepare to give the athletes some rest for the IUPUI invite. I was encouraged by some new faces being impactful to the team’s points today. We will need to continue to grow as a group and see steady improvement if we want to achieve the goals we have set.”
The women earned three top-five finishes coming from Zupan, Pavel and Allegri. Zupan placed fourth in the women’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:02.20 while Pavel finished fifth in the women’s 200yd breaststroke in 2:22.40. Allegri, a freshman, swam a 56.72 second 100yd back to earn fifth-place in her event as well.
“I’m really proud of the way the Bears raced today and got behind one another,” Zupan said. “It was a great opportunity for the women’s team to be able to practice racing in the pool that we’ll be competing in for the Conference Championships meet in February.”
The ladies tallied six, sixth-place finishes, beginning with the women’s 200yd medley relay in which the Bears recorded a time of 1:45.68. Other Bears to finish in the number six spot were Zupan (100yd back, 56.87), Pavel (100yd breast, 1:05.48), Haley Allen (200yd butterfly, 2:07.18) and Loretta Stelnicki (50yd free, 24.20).
Brooke Dreiling, a freshman from Andover, Kan., also finished sixth in the 1000yd free, setting a new personal record with a time of 10:41.96 in the event. Her time was nearly ten seconds faster than her previous record set last weekend at MSU’s dual meet against Drury.
The MSU men saw strong performances throughout the night, earning 19 top-five and 10 top-three finishes. The men started off the afternoon placing fourth in the men’s 200yd medley relay, where the men’s A relay combined for a time of 1:31.37.
Following the event Kang and freshman Antonio Thomas kicked things off for the Bears, finishing second and third in the men’s 1000yd freestyle. In the event, Kang recorded a new career high after finishing the race in 9:14.52, besting his previous time by almost two seconds. Kang went on to take third in the 500yd free with a season-best time of 4:31.88, recording big points for the Bears.
“It was nice to swim fast today,” Kang said. “It was exciting to watch the rest of the team swim very well against two tough, Big 10 teams.”
Osvath finished with an impressive night, achieving two B-standards in the 200yd breast (2nd, 1:58.82) and the 200yd fly (1st, 1:47.42). Both were season bests for the sophomore and his 1:47.42 run in the 200yd fly set a new career high, breaking his previous record set last weekend on Oct. 29.
Freshman Samuel Senn also set a new personal record, swimming the 50yd free in 20.76 seconds. Senn place third in the event and went on to place sixth in the 100yd free where, thanks to his 46.37 second performance, he set a new personal record in that event as well.
Sophomore Michael Mollak also had a big night, placing second and setting a personal season-record in the 200yd free with a time of 1:40.26. In the men’s 100yd breast, Phillip Willett was the top performer for the Bears with a second-place time of 55.53 seconds, followed by Nicholas Theunissen who placed fourth and swam a time of 56.79 in the event.
“I think this meet was a good chance for us to come together as a team and rally against these Big 10 teams,” Willett said. “We did well and a lot of us swam to our full potential, making a big statement. We pushed through every event and never gave up. Hopefully we can carry this team atmosphere throughout the rest of the training season and onward into conference.”
The Bears asserted dominance in the 200yd breast where Osvath, Willett and Christopher Heye went 2-3-4 in the event. The men’s team capped off the night finishing fifth in the 400yd free relay where the Bears A relay, made up of Senn, Brenden Bolman, Mollak and Will Brand recorded a time of 3:05.56.
