TCU Women Tie Iowa State In Big 12 Opener

Meet Stats

• Complete results
• Hosted by TCU
• November 4, 2016
• 25 yard, women’s dual meet
• Score
  • Women: TCU 150, Iowa State 150

Press Release

Courtesy of TCU Athletics

FORT WORTH, Texas — The TCU women’s swimming and diving team recorded a win in the final event of the meet and tied Iowa State, 150-150, at the University Recreation Center in Fort Worth Friday night.

The Horned Frogs found themselves down 144-139 heading into the 400-yard freestyle relay, but the freshmen quartet of Madie Sandberg, Hannah Dooley, Amanda Key and Claire Munster produced a winning-time of 3:31.07 to edge out the Cyclones for 11 points. With second and third-place finishes, Iowa State recorded six points in the event, knotting the score at 150.

“Our girls swam much better this week,” head coach Richard Sybesma said. “It’s a big step for our program. I’m seeing a lot of confidence in this team, and it definitely grew even more tonight.”

Friday’s result marks the first time TCU tied an opponent since 2009, when the women’s team finished deadlocked with Utah at 121.5 points.

Overall, TCU won eight of the 16 events.

The Races
Freshman Elise Forzley swept both backstroke events as she led the pool in the 100 back at 57.36 and 200 back at 2:04.19. Behind Forzley in the 100 back were sophomores Ruby Powell (58.09) and Maddie Ibrahim (58.36) to give TCU a 1-2-3 finish in the event.

Munster, a native of Madison, Ala., excelled in her first home Big 12 meet with a total of three top marks on Friday. In addition to swimming a leg in the 400 free relay, Munster also assisted in the 200-yard medley win at 1:45.22. Ibrahim, junior Devin Newton and sophomore Micaela Roemer rounded out the relay squad to open the meet. Munster went on to take home a first-place time of 52.51 in the 100 free and second in the 50 free.

The Frogs then recorded a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard freestyle as freshman Nicqueline Rettberg logged first with a time of 1:54.13, while freshman Katie Woods followed closely at 1:55.01. Rettberg went on to also place second in the 500 free with a time of 5:01.78.

Junior Devin Newton led the pool in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.82, and senior Ashley Dyke placed second at 1:05.06 to give TCU another one-two finish. Dyke also placed second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.44.

Roemer recorded the final individual victory for the Frogs with a first-place time of 56.71 in the 100 fly. Junior Emily Gibson followed in second at 57.19.

What a finish to the 400 free relay! #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/fAHrqYAT2Z

— TCU Swim & Dive (@TCUswimdive) November 5, 2016

Press Release

Courtesy of Iowa State Athletics

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Iowa State swimming and diving team tied the TCU Horned Frogs at 150 points apiece Friday night at TCU’s University Recreation Center. It is just the second tie in team history, the other coming during 2013-14 season at Nebraska.

The result moves both teams to 1-1-1 (0-0-1 Big 12) on the season. Iowa State now holds a 2-1-1 advantage in the all-time series.

As could be expected in a tie, both teams went back and forth winning events throughout the night.

Iowa State’s first win came in the 1,000 freestyle, in which Keely Soellner touched in 10:17.52 to lead a Cyclone sweep. Soellner took first place by 12.9 seconds and cracked Iowa State’s All-Time Top Performers list at No. 12 in the event. Jessie Storer took second with a time of 10:30.42, followed by Haley Ruegemer at the 10:32.50 mark.

After TCU took the next three events, Mary Kate Luddy helped spark a three-event Cyclone run with a time of 2:05.43 to claim victory in the 200 butterfly. Laura Miksch followed up Luddy by continuing her early-season dominance in the 50 freestyle, taking the top spot in 23.92 seconds and by a .21-second margin.

In the diving well, Julie Dickinson took first place on the one-meter board with 271.65 points. Dickinson later went on to take first on the three-meter board as well (290.03 points), followed up Sydney Ronald‘s 277.43 points for second place and Becky Stochl‘s score of 253.73 to finish third.

Other wins for the Cyclones on the night came via Kasey Roberts in the 200 breaststroke in 2:20.14, Soellner again in the 500 freestyle with a mark of 5:01.50 and then Roberts once more in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.20.

The meet would come down to its final event: the 400 freestyle relay. Iowa State held an advantage in the team score, 144-139. TCU’s ‘A’ squad out-touched Iowa State’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups in a photo-finish, however, to come back from the minor deficit and force a tie. TCU took the event by .05 seconds and the top-three groups were separated by only .77 seconds.

Iowa State’s swimmers and divers have a few weeks off before heading to their first invitational meets of the 2016-17 season. The divers will travel to Columbia, Missouri, for the Mizzou Invite Nov. 17-19. Iowa State’s swimmers will travel to Topeka, Kansas, for The Big Challenge, hosted by Kansas University, Nov. 18-20.

Senior Megan Childs will continue her Twitter Takeover through Saturday on the team Twitter account, showing Cyclone fans her perspective of the team’s trip to Fort Worth to open the Big 12 slate.