How does a college athletics team that doesn’t compete at home as much as a typical college sports team deal with competing on the road all the time?

The ISU swimming and diving and women’s cross country teams try to put a positive spin on it.

Swimming coach Duane Sorenson said his team looks at it as increased time to bond together.

“When we go to Kansas and Missouri, it is a bus trip, so they get to spend time together there,” Sorenson said. “There’s a lot of socializing that goes on while we’re staying at the hotel, too.

“It gets a little long but you make the best of it.”

The swimming and diving team was only home for three weekends this year, and two of them were before Winter Break.

Diving coach Jeff Warrick said it is nice having home meets, but road meets are good preparation for the end of the season.

“We will be on the road for conference, the Zone Diving Championships and the NCAA [Championships],” Warrick said. “It’s good to get on the road and get used to different environments.”

Warrick said the team gets some enjoyment out of traveling.

“It’s kind of fun going to different universities and different pools,” Warrick said.

The swimmers won three out of their four home meets, only dropping an eight-point loss to Nebraska. The Cyclones won two meets away from Iowa State as well.

The women’s cross country team went on the road for all but one of its meets.

ISU women’s cross country coach Dick Lee said this season is not too out of the ordinary as far as traveling, but there are things that the team does to stay fresh.

“One thing is looking at competing every other weekend,” Lee said. “Week in and out, traveling long distances can be pretty tiring, and we also try to limit what we miss for classes.”

The cross country team dominated its only home meet with sophomore Lisa Koll winning, but the team did have several good meets away from Ames.

Another thing Lee said the team uses to keep fresh is that it only competes about seven times per season and a couple of those competitions are fairly close to Iowa State.

The coaches try to make it as easy on the athletes as they possibly can, but there are some things – such as classes – that they are going miss that the athletes do have to take care of before they leave and after they get back.

Sophomore diver Kali Fryklund said the big key for her staying ahead in classes is time management.

“You have to get your assignments in before you leave or talk with the professors if you have to reschedule a test,” Fryklund said. “It just takes time management and being organized.”

Koll said the cross country team usually leaves early enough so they can stay in a hotel the night before the race.

“I usually got plenty of sleep and didn’t have to get up too early in the morning,” Koll said. “It helped having that time to focus on my race.”

Senior swimmer Chelsey Walden said the team manages by working on the bus.

“There’s always people doing homework on the bus or sleeping,” Walden said.

The fact that the swimming and diving team is on the road a lot this year is somewhat a product of the home scheduling of the Big 12 Conference and Iowa meets, and this is the year the team had to travel more.

Sorenson said there is a number of things the coaches use to keep the athletes fresh.

“One is getting the right amount of sleep before we leave and while we are traveling,” Sorenson said. “We just make sure they’re eating right and drinking fluids and juices.”

Warrick said the coaches try to take care of the athletes like they are at home.

“I don’t know if there’s any magic to that or not,” Warrick said. “It’s really how you look at it and how you approach it.”

The athletes had similar opinions on whether they would like to have more home meets.

Koll said it would be nice to have the Big 12 Conference meet for regionals in Ames, but it is also nice to get out of Ames.

“I kind of like traveling and getting out of the whole swing of things,” Koll said. “I like having a totally different atmosphere.”

Fryklund said that even though having crowds like the one at Beyer Hall pool for the Nebraska meet is nice, going on the road is not too bad.

“Sometimes the bus rides can be long, and it is nice to have the home advantage,” Fryklund said.

The cross country season is over but the swimming and diving team will travel once again to the Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas, on Feb. 14.