The ISU swimming and diving team will come home emerging from a third-place finish at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston, Ill., from Nov. 18-20.

The Cyclones tallied a total of 693 points — one point shy of tying with second-place team Illinois. The teams featured in the tournament included Northwestern, Iowa State, Illinois, Cleveland State, Nebraska, Missouri State, Illinois-Chicago and Kenyon College.

Iowa State started the record breaking day with Sarah Norris finishing first in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 25.98, teammates Dani Harris and Bre Loeschke finishing third and eighth with times of 26.51 and 27.69 as well.

In the 200-breaststroke, Emily Wiltsie lead the Cyclones with second-place finish, personal-best time of 2:15.56. Marley Suckow came in fifth place with a time of 2:19.81 and Ali Stearns finished in 14th with a personal-best time of 2:22.90 as well.

Wiltsie’s time was also good enough for her to make NCAA ‘B’ cut. It was the first NCAA qualifying time posted by a Cyclone swimmer this season.

In the 50-butterfly event, Amanda Paulson and Sarah Norris placed second and third place with times of 24.98 and 25.06.

The team began the final afternoon session with Elizabeth Kleiner finishing sixth in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:15.19. Also competing in the event for Iowa State, Meredith Doran who finished in 12th with a time of 17:30.20 and Kristy Kunkel who finished 14th with a time of 17:45.21.

The finish put Kleiner 10th overall in Cyclone history.

In the 200 backstroke, Harris earned a second place finish with a time of 2:01.73.  Loeschke earned a fourth place finish with a time of 2:03.26.

The finish puts Harris eighth overall in Cyclone history.

In the 100 freestyle, Paulson finished sixth with a time of 51.75, a new personal best, and moving her 14th in Cyclone history. Vollhaber also earned a season-best with a time of 52.73, finishing 15th. 

The Cyclones finished the weekend with a fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Paulson, Vollhaber, Britta Sortland and Sarah Deis clocked in at 3:25.76.

The time was fifth best in Cyclone history.

In diving, the team was again led by Sarah Nelson and Jessica Nicholson who each finished 2nd and 3rd with scores of 231.85 and 193.60 respectively.

The score gives Nelson her ticket to the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in March joining teammate Nicholson, who qualified earlier in the season.

The Cyclones will face in state rival Iowa at home on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.