The ISU men’s swimming and diving team battled tough competition when the Cyclones participated in the Minnesota Invitational on Nov. 17.

Iowa State, ranked 24th in the nation, took on a field of six other teams at the event that included two other top 25 teams, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The Cyclones finished fourth at the invitational. The host Golden Gophers won the event. Wisconsin placed second and Air Force got third. Iowa, North Dakota and St. Olaf finished behind Iowa State.

ISU head coach Trip Hedrick said this was an important meet in the early part of the season.

“This meet was basically our focus meet for the first semester,” Hedrick said. “We posted some exceptional times for this meet.”

During the three-day meet, the Cyclones had some excellent performances in the first day of the event.

The Cyclones had a pair of top two finishes on the day. Junior Dylan de Bruin had a hand in both races. He won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.98 seconds and then also took part in the second place 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Other team members were Jeff Gahan, Peder Skoog, and Jeremy Wilson .

Iowa State also received other noteworthy performances. Senior Josh Nogar placed seventh in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:38.01, while junior Liam Short swam to a time of 1:53.82 in the 200-yard individual medley for a sixth place finish.

Iowa State also got a sixth place finish from one of its 200-yard freestyle relay teams.

The team of senior Henrik Ingesson, junior Brett Lohmeier, sophomore Mike Christianson and Short raced to a time of 1:25.07.

The Cyclones started day two of the invitational the right way, winning the first event of the day, the 200-yard medley relay. The relay team comprised of Skoog, Christianson, Wilson, and de Bruin finished with a mark of 1:31.30.

Skoog placed second in two other events, the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke.

The Cyclones also got a fifth place performance from Short in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 51.57 seconds, and had three sixth place finishes.

One of those sixth place finishes came in the 400-yard individual medley. Short posted a time of 4:04.56. Wilson came in sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, and the 800-yard freestyle relay team of junior Aron Nakama, freshman Jason Schneider, Nogar and Skoog garnered sixth place with a time of 6:54.15.

Day three of the Minnesota Invitational saw Iowa State continue to improve. The Cyclones got two victories and a second place tally.

Skoog played a part in both wins. He won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.24 and was also a member of the first place 400-yard freestyle relay team. Jeff Gahan, de Bruin and Schneider also played vital roles in the relay team’s time of 3:03.36.

The Cyclones’ second place finish came from de Bruin in the 100-yard freestyle. He posted a time of 45.91 seconds. Short placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.57.

In platform diving, Likar earned a seventh place finish for the Cyclones.

Hedrick did see some areas for possible improvement.

“We just need to keep filling some of the gaps in some of our events,” Hedrick said. ” I think we will need to continue improving our overall depth to maintain a top 25 spot.”

Iowa State will face familiar foes this weekend. The Cyclones will host St. Olaf at 5 p.m. Friday. The next day Iowa State will host Northern Iowa at 1 p.m.

Both meets will be held at Beyer Hall Pool and are free.