The Iowa State women posted a convincing win over Washington St. Louis this weekend. They finished the dual with a 195-97 score to seal the victory. Read on for full recaps from each team.
Iowa State:
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State swimming and diving team (4-3, 1-0 Big 12) picked up its first victory of 2016 when it defeated Washington-St. Louis (2-2, 0-1 UAA) by a margin of 195-97 Saturday at Beyer Pool. The Cyclones won 15-of-16 events on the afternoon, including eight sweeps.
The competition was Iowa State’s second dual meet in 24 hours after playing host to Illinois Friday night.
The Cyclones came out of the gates strong, taking the top two spots in the 400 medley relay to open the meet. The Iowa State squad of Marissa Engel, Kasey Roberts, Kaylee Kucera and Alex Flatness touched in 3:56.54 to claim first place.
Iowa State quickly built on its early lead, as Mary Kate Luddy placed first in the 1000 freestyle and the Cyclones swept the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke to follow. Silqi Luo claimed the 200 freestyle crown in 1:54.86, while Harper Emswiler fended off a late push by Kucera to win the 100 backstroke in 58.33.
Danica Delaquis cruised to victory in Iowa State’s fifth-straight event win to start the meet, completing the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.98. She finished 3.65 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer on the event.
“I really liked what Danica Delaquis did in the 100 breaststroke. That was really strong,” head coach Duane Sorenson said.
The 200 butterfly would be the lone event the Cyclones did not claim first place in, as Washington’s Amanda Stadermann touched in 2:09.18 to win the event. Iowa State finished 2-3-4 in the event, led by team captain Savanna Townsend’s time of 2:12.85.
At the first diving break, the Iowa State held a 98-33 lead over Washington.
“We challenged our women to get up and race this morning even though they were sore and stiff and a little disappointed after losing yesterday,” Sorenson said. “I thought we did a good job racing. Some of the times weren’t exactly where we wanted them to be, but we asked them to swim their races a certain way and a lot of them did.”
It was the usual suspects for the Cyclones on the 3-meter board, as Elyse Brouillette and Julie Dickinson took the top-two spots. Brouillette tallied 304.50 points across six dives, while Dickinson totaled a season-best 293.78 points.
Becky Stochl, competing on the 3-meter board for just the second time this season, earned a career-best score of 244.95 to take third place.
“From Becky, I thought she just did a great job,” diving coach Jeff Warrick said. “I thought she really did well. The difference was [that] she was just really more consistent really on her entries. I thought she had some really good tops and dives yesterday, but just didn’t quite finish and today she did.”
As the action left the diving well of Beyer Pool and returned to the lanes, Iowa State picked up right where it left off.
Iowa State took first and second place in the next four events, including the 500 freestyle, where Luddy’s first-place time of 5:13.99 gave Iowa State 157 team points clinched the victory for the Cyclones.
Back in the diving well, the Cyclones again finished in the top-three spots. This time, however, it was Dickinson who took the top spot with a score of 264.60. Brouillette – whose score was affected by a balking deduction – took second with 239.10 points and Stochl finished 229.43 points.
“[Elyse] did the right thing and just settled herself down, didn’t rush to go, and I think that’s what she needed to do,” Warrick said. “Her last dive I thought she did well. We’ve been working on that one… so I thought she finished strong.”
The Cyclones rounded out the meet with Guy Shilon earning the 200 IM crown in 2:11.86 and adding another sweep of the 200 free relay.
The Cyclones return to action next Saturday, Jan. 23, against in-state foe UNI. Competition is slated for a noon start at Glen F. Henry Swimming & Diving Pool at UNI’s Wellness and Recreation Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“UNI is vastly improving from last year to this year and even this year they’re getting better,” Sorenson said. “We’re going to have to be on our game. We can’t just go in there and sleep walk through it. We need to be motivated, excited and ready to go next Saturday.”
Washington St. Louis:
Ames, Iowa, Jan. 16, 2016 – Senior Amanda Stadermann won the 200 butterfly to highlight the performances of the Washington University in St. Louis women’s swimming & diving team in the Bears’ 195-97 dual loss at NCAA Division I Iowa State University Saturday afternoon.
Stadermann clocked a time of 2:09.18 to win the 200 fly by more than three seconds. Sophomore Niamh O’Grady posted a pair of individual runner-up finishes. She was second in the 100 fly in 1:01.75, and added a second-place finish in the 200 IM in 2:15.68. O’Grady also teamed with seniors Katie Anderson, Sophie Gan and Kristalyn McAfee to finish third in the 400-medley relay in 4:04.95.
Gan added second-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.63) and 200 breaststroke (2:28.59). McAfee finished fourth in both the 100 free (55.10) and 200 free (1:58.58). She also joined Anderson, junior Claire Savage and freshman Lauren Sapp to finish second in the 200-free relay with a time of 1:42.73.
Sophomore Laura Barber posted a career-best score of 226.72 to finish second in the one-meter diving. She added a fourth-place finish in the three-meter event with a score of 240.22. Sophomore Nicole Zanolli was the runner-up in the 1,000 free in 10:43.45. Freshman Brooke Iveywas second in the 200 backstroke (2:11.71) and fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.41), while sophomore Alissa Ling finished second in the 500 free (5:19.53) and Sapp was fourth in the 50 free (25.20).
WashU returns to action with a pair of duals against NCAA Division II opponents next weekend. The Bears travel to Lindenwood University for a 6 p.m. meet against the Lions Friday, Jan. 22. WashU then hosts its final home meet of the season, a dual against Truman State University at Noon Saturday, Jan. 23.
Swimming news courtesy of Iowa State and Washington St. Louis Swimming & Diving.
