Last year at the Minnesota Invitational, the ISU swimming and diving team took eighth place with 266 points. After the first day this year, the Cyclones found themselves in fifth place and held onto the position behind host Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Head coach Duane Sorenson said he was happy with the way the team raced in the meet, which took place Nov. 19-21.

“We seemed to get better after each session,” he said.

Junior Lydia Smirniotis recorded a season-best time of 5:06.89 in the 500 freestyle and swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.41, the fastest of any Cyclone so far this season.

Junior Kim Rogers took third in the 200 backstroke (2:07.39); her 4:32.72 was good enough for sixth in the 400 individual medley.

“Kim Rogers had an outstanding meet for us; she had in-season bests in 200 backstroke and 400 [individual medley] and 400 backstroke,” Sorenson said.

Sophomore Chelsey Walden, who has been recovering from mononucleosis, was able to compete in all of her events.

“She is still a long way off from 100 percent, but it was fun for her to go out there and compete rather than watching from the side,” Sorenson said.

Head diving coach Jeff Warrick said he was pleased with his divers’ performances at the Invitational.

“I thought overall we did really well,” Warrick said.

“There were definitely some areas we could have done better in, but there were some we did great in.”

Junior Hillary Nichols was hampered by her sprained right ankle. She placed ninth in the 1-meter and eighth in the 3-meter boards; she ended with a fifth-place finish (323.00 points) in the platform event.

“It was her first meet with the 10-meter platform and her first opportunity to dive off it,” said Warrick.

“I was really pleased with how she did in the event, and to be in the top eight was fantastic.”

Senior Gail Olson had a great showing for the Cyclone divers in the 1-meter event, finishing seventh with a score of 254.05. Her diving was good enough for 13th in the 3-meter boards, and she dove to an 11th-place finish in the platform event.

Warrick said the 3-meter board was a down event for Olson, but he thought she had a great meet considering she made the finals in two of her three events.

“I think Gail should have done a bit better, but she just wasn’t focused that day,” Warrick said. “The next time she is on the 3-meter board, I think she’ll do a lot better than she did this time. That has been kind of a theme for us the past three years, with the 3-meter boards being our weakest event.”

The Cyclones will face intrastate rival Iowa on Saturday.