Courtesy: Iowa State Athletics
The Iowa State Cyclones kick off their season on October 10th, in Ames against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Head coach Matt Leach and assistant coach Morgan McGhee kick off their first seasons as Cyclones as head diving coach, Jeff Warrick starts his 27th season.
Iowa State brings back talent with two fifth year seniors, Andie Quirke and Winter Craig, as well as seniors, Carley Caughron, Fallon DeWitt, Mallory Miller, and transfer from Kenyan College, Sophie Schmitz.
“Our senior class has done a really good job so far from what we’ve seen. We want to make sure they understand how important they are in the process of leadership, family, and culture. We’re excited to see what they can do this year.” Coach Leach said.
Sprint Freestyle
Caughron returns this season as a senior, with numerous wins in these events. She was the leading scorer for the 2023-24 event amongst the team, earning 49 points at the Big 12, tying for third overall highest score. She has the third fastest 50-free time in program history.
Quirke took Big Twelve Swimmer of the Week during her senior season, setting a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle, earning the number nine spot on the all time leading score’s list. In the 100-yard freestyle, she is 10th on the list for all time leaders.
Lydia McClugage enters her sophomore year as a Cyclone. Her freshman year included four fourth place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, while setting two of her best times in the 100-yard freestyle.
Kayla Bulseco transferred into Iowa State this season coming from Lindenwood University. Excitement is strong to see what she can do in the pool for the Cyclones this season.
Grace Swoboda will be one to watch this season as she joins the Cyclones for her freshman season as a runner-up 50-yard freestyle state champion in Nebraska.
Middle Distance & Distance Freestyle
The 200 & 500-yard freestyle is one dominated by Corinne Guist. She broke five minutes four separate times throughout her sophomore season. Guist was All Big 12 second-team in the 1650-freestyle in 2023.
As DeWitt goes into her senior year, she has a variety of areas she is strong in. One is the 200 freestyle. She hit her personal best at the 2024 Big 12 Championships, 1:58.28, earring honors in being the 12th fastest time in Cyclone history.
Craig enters her fifth year, bringing an abundance of strength and leadership to the team. She was one of the fastest 500-yard freestyle swimmers for the Cyclone team in 2023-24.
Schmitz transferred to Iowa State for her final year. At her previous school, she qualified for and finaled at D3 NCAAs in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
A new name to the roster this year is freshman Miray Abay. She was a national team qualifier in 2022 and 2021, placing third in the 200m freestyle in Turkey.
Breaststroke
Abbi Crum comes off a season high this season as she had a personal best of 105.20 in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2024 Big 12 Championships.
A few new names to look out for are freshman Grace Swoboda, Carli Poppen, and Anja Peck, who join the Cyclones this year. Anja was mentioned in the All Iowa High School Girls Swimming and Diving Team Honorable mention in 2023, representing her accomplishments.
“I’m excited to see Grace, Carli and Anja develop over this season. There is some untapped potential out of this freshmen class and we are hopeful to see that unfold.” Coach Leach said.
Butterfly
Miller represents the Cyclones in the breaststroke events. She posted top-five fastest season times in both the 100 and 200 fly.
Caughron came off of an extremely strong Big 12 Championship last spring. She hit her personal best in the 100-fly with a 54:18 time.
Bulseco transferred into Iowa State as a sophomore this year, earning All American honors and qualifying for state all four years of high school.
Craig has been honored on the All-Big 12 Second Team twice, in 2022 and 2023, for the 200-fly.
Emma Kuhn comes to the Cyclones for her second year, with a personal best in 2023 in the 100-fly with a time of 56.03. She was mentioned for Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in December of last year.
Backstroke
Madi Dohrn was consistent within the backstroke events in her last two seasons. She secured five top-three performances in the 200 back with second-place finishes at South Dakota and UNI. Dohrn is the third fastest Cyclone in the 100 back (56.72) and 200 back (2:04.03) in 23-24.
Kuhn hit her personal bests in both the 100 (56.21) and 200 backstroke (2:02.40) at the 2024 Big 12 Championships. She was named the 20th on the all-time top performers list.
DeWitt hit her personal best at the 2024 Big 12 Championships, with a time of 1:58.28, with the 12th fastest time in program history.
One to look out for is Keirlyn Mullica who transferred into the Cyclone team this year, earning honors in 2022 and 2023 in high school. She was the 2022 and 2023 CIF champion in backstroke and a state finalist in the 100 backstroke in 2022.
“Keirlyn has done a great job training, and I am extremely excited about her and what she can do for our team this season,” Leach said.
Individual Medley
DeWitt earned her personal best at the 2024 Big 12 Championships with a time of 2:03.47 in the 200 IM, earning the number 12 spot in the all-time top performer’s list.
Miller Finished in 22nd place in the 400 IM finals at the 2024 Big 12 Championships with a time of 4:25.32.
Crum had her fastest time in the 200 IM at the Big 12 Championship with a time of 2:07.13 which was also her personal best for the season in 2024.
Kuhn had her personal best at the 2024 Big 12 Championships with a time of 2:02.10 in the 200 IM, earning the second-fastest freshman time and the eighth-fastest performer in program history.
A newcomer to the team to look out for is Anja Peck, earning the Ankeny record in the 200 IM (2:05.81) and a third place finish at state in 2023.
Diving
Kate, Ally, and Annie return for this season, bringing talent and leadership to the team.
Kate stayed in Ames over the summer, training to improve to the best of her ability, which was noticed by Warrick.
“I’m expecting really good things out of Kate this season. I’m not going to limit her in what she can do, but she’s a really strong diver for our team.” Warrick said.
Mitchell won both the one and three meter diving events at the Cardinal & Gold intrasquad meet on Oct. 4th. Of the three returners, Mitchell was the top performer in regards to points overall for the 2024-25 season.
Ally Blumenfeld returns this year, strong and ready to compete for her junior year. She comes off a strong sophomore season, placing top-20 in both the 1- and 3- meter diving competitions.
“I know she trained this summer and she is looking even better now than she was when she left. The springboards are where she thrives and competes at her best ability,” Warrick said.
Annie McCann comes back strong with a little bit of a slow start to her collegiate career. Warrick is hopeful for an exciting year with McCann, knowing that she will build moving forward.
Freshmen Grace Marek, Abby Tollefson, and Maggie Bendell bring excitement to the team, all earning honors in high school.
“I am so excited about all three of the newcomers this season. They are all so different but in a good way when it comes to our team dynamic,” Warrick said.
After finishing pre-season action with the Cardinal & Gold intrasquad meet, the Cyclones will begin regular season action in Ames this Thursday against SDSU at 4:30 p.m. in Beyer Hall.
Go Cyclones!