Iowa vs Northern Iowa (Women)
- October 6, 2023
- Iowa City, Iowa
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
- Iowa 196.5, Northern Iowa 103.5
Courtesy: Iowa Athletics
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving won its season opener against Northern Iowa, 196.5-103.5, at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Friday night.
“I think it was an excellent start to the season,” Iowa head coach Nathan Mundt said. “It was exactly what we’re looking to see in this early part of our season. It is really just good to see where we’re at. We got some quality competition from UNI. We saw some spots along the way that we can certainly improve upon but it was a solid start.”
Iowa had a total of 11 individual wins on the night. Freshman Olivia Frantum kicked off the meet for the Hawkeyes, winning the 1000 free (10:19.69). Freshman Olivia Swalley posted three wins of her own in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.01), the 200 backstroke (2:18.73) and finished up with the 200 IM (2:02.96).
Iowa was victorious in their first relay of the night. Senior Kennedy Gilbertson, Swalley, sophomore Scarlet Martin, and junior transfer Megan Hartlieb teamed up to take first place in the 200 medley with a time of 1:41.81.
Diving picked up its momentum from last season with impressive performances. Junior Makayla Hughbanks took first place off the one-meter springboards with her career best 312.60, bettering her eighth all-time mark at Iowa. Simone Beinlich kicked off her freshman campaign with a win in the three-meter dive (262.30). Senior Sarah Ballard finished second in both the one- and three-meter dives (275.50) (245.15).
The Hawkeyes hit the road to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State and Virginia Tech Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28. The meet will be live streamed on B1G+.
Courtesy: Northern Iowa Athletics
IOWA CITY, Iowa — UNI swimming and diving opened the 2023-24 season with three first-place finishes on Friday night in a 196.5-103.5 dual loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Campus Recreation-Wellness Center.
Reigning Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) 50-yard freestyle champion Faith Larsen started her season strong by taking the 50-yard freestyle in 23.37, edging out Iowa’s Kennedy Gilbertson by 0.51 seconds. Larsen also contributed to the Panthers’ success in the 200-yard freestyle relay leading off a winning squad alongside Clare Christensen, Abby Lear and Morgan Meyer in 1:34.64.
Amber Finke, who took second place at the MVC Championships last winter in the 200-yard backstroke, clocked a 2:00.82 in her first victory of the season.
Finke and Meyer also helped contribute to UNI’s efforts against the Hawkeyes, with Meyer finishing in second in the 100-yard freestyle (52.23) with Larsen taking third place (52.24). Finke meanwhile earned second in the 100-yard backstroke (56.10) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.91).
Larsen, Finke, Sydney Aird and Scout Bergwall all combined to take second place in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:45.07. Individually, Aird finished in second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.45) with newcomer Jenna Breitbach placing fourth (1:07.94) in her collegiate debut. Aird and Breitbach also took second and fourth places respectively in the 200-yard breaststroke with times of 2:24.85 and 2:29.82.
Bergwall placed third in both the 100-yard butterfly (57.40) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:07.84). Hannah Nedder finished just ahead of Bergwall in the 100-yard butterfly in second place (57.40) and in fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:12.08).
In the diving well, freshman Trista Thompson led the Panthers on the one-meter board with a score of 245.65, with Erica Peters tying for fifth place (219.10). In the three-meter competition, 2023 All-MVC Honorable Mention honoree Hannah Taylor scored a career-best 230.90 to place third, with Peters in fourth (227.70), Maddie Moran in fifth (217.10) and Avery Hogan in sixth (211.65).
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the pool Nov. 3-4 for the Coyote Extravaganza, hosted by the University of South Dakota at the Midco Aquatics Center.
