Practice paid off for the 22nd- ranked Iowa State men’s swimming and diving team last Saturday as the Cyclones dealt the 23rd-ranked Kansas Jayhawks a 143.5-99.5 hammering in Lawrence, Kan.

“The meet was a lot closer than the score indicated,” Trip Hedrick, ISU head men’s swimming coach said. “We finally were in a situation where we won a lot of close races. We’re reaping some of the benefits of some of the extra things [we] worked on in practice.”

Hedrick said the Cyclones, who finished the dual meet season at 6-2, have been working on their touches and finishing races stronger. He said the extra push his swimmers displayed in the final lengths of their races against the Jayhawks was the key to ISU’s first win in Lawrence since 1984.

“When a race is within two seconds, it’s usually determined by the stretch,” Hedrick said. “Determination on the reach to the wall can make all the difference in the world.”

Hedrick said the most critical event in ISU’s victory was Joakim Dahl’s narrow victory in the 200-yard individual medley over KU’s Nathan Rice. He said Dahl had to overcome nearly a body-length deficit in the last 50 yards to win, symbolizing the Cyclones’ dedication toward finishing strong.

Dahl won with a time of 1:53.39 and said his victory was important in giving the team an emotional boost.

“I was ahead the first 100 [yards] then lost a bit on the breaststroke and was behind him [Rice] with 50 yards to go, and I caught him and won by less than a second,” Dahl said. “It was a big win because we didn’t expect to win, and it got the team going.”

Dahl added two more first place finishes. He won the 100-yard freestyle and was part of ISU’s victorious 400-yard medley relay team. The team consisted of Dahl, Peder Skoog, Mark Ritcey and Mitch McGinty.

Skoog, McGinty, Dylan deBruin and Martin Andersson formed another winning relay team for the Cyclones in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“Both our medley and freestyle relays came out outstanding,” Hedrick said.

Evan deSzoeke added wins in both the 100-yard and 500-yard freestyle races for ISU, while deBruin and McGinty each grabbed a first place finish by winning the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, respectively.

The Cyclone diving squad was paced by Mike Amberson, who won the 1-meter board competition with a score of 277.20 and placed second in the 3-meter event with a point total of 279.375.

Amberson came up shy of qualifying for the NCAA zone qualifying meet in March, but according to Jeff Warrick, head ISU diving coach, he could still get in with a good effort at the Big 12 championships.

“I think he still has a shot,” Warrick said. “Typically conference meets are judged higher so he’s going to have to dive well, but he can do it.”