ISU men’s swimming sinks the competition

Brad Seward

The ISU men’s swimming and diving team took to the road over the weekend against the Missouri Tigers. Iowa State came out on top with a 133-108 victory.The Cyclones won eight of the 15 events and also took two of the top three places in five events.”Just a very good win,” ISU head coach Trip Hedrick said. “It was a good time to meet the challenge and come home with a victory. It was very rewarding.”The Cyclones started off with a nine point lead after the 200-yard medley relay. In the event, the relay team of seniors Peder Skoog, Jeremy Wilson, Jeff Gahan and sophomore Mike Christianson placed first with a time of 1:32.61. Third place was captured by relay team senior Henrik Ingesson, junior Billy Reese, sophomore Mike Jimenez and freshman Mike Rigali.Iowa State extended its lead when senior Josh Nogar earned a victory in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:32.88.Missouri shaved the Cyclone lead to 31-24 after the 200-yard freestyle. The Tigers placed first and third. Skoog came in a close second place for Iowa State.The Cyclones bounced back in the 50-yard freestyle. Iowa State got a victory from junior Dylan de Bruin with a mark of 20.83 seconds while freshman Jono Newton tallied third place. Iowa State led 45-29.The momentum seesawed back to the Tigers after the 200-yard individual medley. The Tigers took the top two spots and came within seven points of Iowa State’s lead.Sophomore Rob McGinty picked up third place for the Cyclones.While Wilson garnered second place for the Cyclones, Missouri edged even closer to Iowa State by first and third place in the 100-yard butterfly. However, the Tigers would not get closer. Iowa State started gaining momentum in the 100-yard freestyle with a de Bruin win in a time of 46.14. Iowa State led 67-64.Skoog raced to a win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 49.90 seconds, which broke the Missouri Natatorium record in the event. Junior Liam Short placed third.Nogar captured his second victory of the meet in the 500-yard freestyle. He put up a time of 4:37.80. The Cyclones had extended their lead to 93-76.The Cyclones took first and third places in the 100-yard breaststroke. Christianson won the event with a mark of 58.57 seconds. Short garnered third place for the Cyclones.In the 200-yard freestyle relay the team of de Bruin, Newton, Wilson and Gahan raced to victory with a time of 1:25.82. The relay team of Reese, junior Doug Owen, sophomore Ansel Lindner and freshman Bram Olson earned second place.Sophomore Dave Likar added a pair of second place finishes in the one and three-meter diving events. Freshman Mitch Fluegel would place fourth in both events.Hedrick said Missouri had presented fierce competition to the Cyclones.”We knew from the beginning of the season that this was going to be a tough meet, especially going to Missouri,” Hedrick said. “It’s turning into a very nice rivalry.”The Cyclones will host its last home meet of the season against North Dakota at 7 Friday night and at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.”North Dakota is an exceptional division-two team,” Hedrick said. “Both teams will use this meet as a stepping stone for their conference meets.”The team will honor seniors Gahan, Ingesson, Nogar, Skoog and Wilson Friday along with Bob and Gwen Dahlberg, father-and-mother-in-law of 1973 All-American diver Steve Spikes Saturday. The Dahlberg’s will endow a diving scholarship in Spikes’ name.