Cyclones fall behind in day one of dual

Iowa State swimmer competing in the 200-yard butterfly event on Nov. 8, 2019 

Megan Teske

The mix of blue and red in the stands indicated it was time for the annual Big 12 rival dual meet of the season between Iowa State and Kansas. Kansas ended the night on top with the score being 63-105 in the Jayhawks’ favor.

Iowa State started the night out strong with the platform diving. Freshman Jayna Misra placed first with 217.27 points and sophomore Michelle Schlossmacher Smith took third with 208.87 points. Senior Dana Liva also placed in the event, taking fourth. 

Kansas tied it up in the next event, the 200 yard medley relay, where they placed first and third to make the score even at 18. Iowa State’s relay team of sophomore Emily Haan, junior Martha Haas, junior Wyli Erlechman and senior Anna Andersen took second place.

Iowa State pulled back in front in the 1,000 yard freestyle. The race was neck and neck most of the way between freshman Nolwenn Nunes and Kansas junior Crissie Blomquist. Cheers from both teams could be heard as it came down to the last few lengths, but it was Nunes who pulled ahead in the end to come away with first with a time of 10:18.67. Senior Keely Soellner also placed third in the race.

In the 200 yard butterfly, sophomore Lucia Rizzo fought the entire race with Kansas freshman Amelie Lessing for first place, but landed in second place just 0.1 seconds behind. 

Meanwhile on the 1 meter diving, Misra and Schlossmacher Smith again placed in the top three, this time taking second and third, respectively. It was the freshman from Kansas, Jiayu Chen who took first place. 

The meet ended with the 50 yard freestyle, where Kansas had a first and second place finish. Iowa State landed in third and fourth, with Andersen in third just 0.39 seconds behind the first place finisher and junior Emma Sass in fourth 0.55 seconds behind the top finisher.

Coach Duane Sorenson said there were lots of season best times and they will look to improve for the second half of the dual Saturday.

The senior day presentation will begin at 9:45 a.m. Saturday and the events will begin at 10 a.m. at Beyer Pool.