Kim Reid became the first Cyclone in six years to win a conference championship as the Iowa State women’s swimming team gained a slice of respectability at the Big 12 Conference Championships last weekend in Austin, Texas.

The Cyclones, with 224 points, finished last out of the six teams participating.

However, they achieved their goal of bettering last season’s point total of 172, and raised some eyebrows in the process.

“Everyone did really well, we easily outdid last year’s team and made the conference take notice,” Reid, a freshman from Media, Penn., said.

ISU Coach Duane Sorenson said, “A lot of the coaches were coming up and congratulating us, and that meant a lot to us.”

Reid was a big reason for the Cyclones’ success as she captured first place in the 100 yard breaststroke with a school record time of 1:02.83.

“I felt really great and was expecting to do well, all I can say is ‘Wow!'” she said.

She let her emotion kick in as she neared the finish.

“I thought there was somebody next to me, so I went really hard for the wall and let out a big scream when I reached it.”

It was the first time a Cyclone had won a conference title since Katie Grinnell won the one-meter diving competition in 1992, and the first time a swimmer had won one since 1991, when Jenni Adams placed first in the 50 freestyle.

Reid’s time put her in consideration for the NCAA Championships, and her coach believes she’ll qualify.

“We’re confident she’ll make it,” Sorenson said.

Reid also made NCAA consideration and set another school record in the 200 breaststroke, placing third in a time of 2:18.08.

She may have to delay long-awaited plans to return home to for spring break.

“I really wanted to go home during spring break, but have no complaints about the possibility of racing in the NCAAs instead,” she said.

Other swimmers also made big contributions for the Cyclones.

Kelly Lorenz placed sixth for ISU in the 100 backstroke and set a school record in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.06.

“I was really pleased with the way I swam,” she said. “I really swam smart and was excited about breaking the school record.”

“It was really exciting for me to make the finals, the atmosphere was exciting, and it’s something I’ll never forget,” she added.

Angela Arias and A-Lisa Miles also did well for ISU.

“Angela and A-Lisa had excellent meets for us,” Sorenson said.

Arias set lifetime bests in all three of her races, while Miles placed 11th in the 200 butterfly.

Erin Cowan led the way for the ISU divers, placing 12th in the one- meter with a score of 330.05 and 14th in the three-meter competition, earning a score of 378.65.

“Erin had an excellent competition,” Sorenson said.

Aleisha Kraft made some solid dives for the Cyclones as well, scoring 332.85 in the three-meter event and 310.0 in the one-meter.

Both Cowan and Kraft will be competing at the NCAA zone qualifying meet on March 13-14.

Sorenson was pleased with his team’s overall performance.

“We did exceptional. I’m really proud of how the swimmers and divers competed in the meet,” he said. “Our goal was to have the conference coaches and fans take notice of us and I think we accomplished that.”

The 200 medley relay team of Lorenz, Reid, Mara Paape and Lindsay Tempel may have finished far behind their competitors, but broke a Cyclone school record with a time of 1:46.53. The record (1:46.65) the women broke was set in 1995.

ISU must wait until March 3 to find out whether Reid qualified for the NCAA Meet.

The meet will be held in Minneapolis on March 18-20.