The Nebraska women’s swimming team showed why it’s one of the nation’s premier swimming programs in a 158-64 rout against the Iowa State Cyclones in Lincoln last Saturday.

“They showed they’re easily the seventh best team in the country,” ISU Coach Duane Sorenson said.

Leading the way for the Cyclones were Kim Reid and Erin Cowen. Reid, a freshman, finished first in the 200 meter breaststroke. Cowen placed second in the one-meter diving competition and third in the three-meter dive.

Cowen’s second place score of 264.22 in the one-meter qualified her for the NCAA zone qualifying meet, which determines who goes on to the NCAA finals.

Despite being outmatched by the Cornhuskers, Sorenson said he felt the Cyclones showed many positives throughout the meet.

“Every time we get in the water we’re improving,” Sorenson said.

He added, “Jennifer Marsters improved seven seconds from her previous best open 1,000 meter freestyle time, achieved at Iowa earlier in the season, and 13 seconds from her time at the beginning of the year.”

Marsters finished fourth in the race with a time of 10:48.97.

Freshman Carol Morgan likewise achieved a season-best mark in the 1,000 meter freestyle, coming in fifth at 10:54.67.

Sorenson also was pleased with his 400 medley relay team of Kelly Lorenz, Mara Paape, Kim Reid and Angela Arias. The team placed second with a time of 3:59.65.

The Cyclones will now focus on the positives from the Nebraska meet and continue to work toward improvement to prepare for the weekend’s home meets against Wisconsin-Green Bay and North Dakota.

“We match up real well with Wisconsin Green Bay, and it looks very winnable, as does North Dakota,” Sorenson said.

“We are very excited about these meets, especially since they’re at home,” he said.

The Cyclones hope to rebound from their Cornhusker defeat and kick their way to a pair of victories.

The competition begins at 6:30 on Friday night and 1 p.m. on Saturday.