Mitch McGinty and Dylan deBruin qualified for the NCAA championships, and several Cyclones set personal marks as the Iowa State men’s swimming and diving team placed fourth at the Big 12 swimming and diving championships in Austin, Texas, March 4-6.

The 22nd-ranked Cyclones tallied 512 points, putting them behind the second-ranked Texas Longhorns [882.50 pts.], 13th ranked Texas A&M Aggies [634] and 14th rated Nebraska Cornhuskers [625.5].

According to Trip Hedrick, head ISU swimming coach, the Cyclones did a commendable job throughout the meet.

“[I was] extremely pleased; we had some injuries that caused guys to redshirt, and with seniors that graduated from last year to come in and pass last season’s [point] total is remarkable,” Hedrick said. “It was a great total team effort with a high number of guys scoring points for us.”

The Cyclones were paced by outstanding efforts from McGinty and deBruin. McGinty made the finals in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly as well as the 200-yard individual medley.

His fourth-place 100 butterfly time of :47.42 set a school record and automatically qualified him for the NCAA championships.

Hedrick said McGinty’s automatic NCAA qualification was “without a doubt” the main highlight for ISU.

DeBruin placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a score of :20.4 to earn consideration to the NCAA championships.

Hedrick later confirmed that deBruin had qualified.

Several other Cyclones pulled through with season bests efforts including freshman Ben Litton.

Litton placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in a time of :55.14.

According to Hedrick, Litton had “an exceptional meet” and placed in the top 25 in the country in the 100 breaststroke.

“I was pretty happy with my swims [and] had a lifetime best in two of my three events,” Litton said.

Brian Rogers, Mark Ritcey, Joakim Dahl, Evan deSzoeke, Lovrenco Franicevic, Henrik Ingesson and Josh Nogar all reached the championship round in their respective events as well for ISU, while diver Steve Mohabir became the first ever Cyclone finalist in the platform dive with an eighth-place score of 465.45.

Overall, ISU put together a well-rounded effort throughout the meet.

“We were well represented in every event and high spirited,” Hedrick said.