The Cyclones opened up conference play against West Virginia on Saturday morning in a matchup that Iowa State is used to winning. Instead, the Cyclones will be heading home with a loss to the Mountaineers of 133-167.

The meet, which Head Coach Duane Sorenson said earlier in the week always goes down to the last relay, was competitive throughout, however West Virginia proved to have too many first place finishes to outlast Iowa State.

100 Yard Breaststroke

In the fifth event of the night, Iowa State swept West Virginia, taking first through fourth place. 

Junior Lehr Thorson led the pack in first with a time of 1:05.02, and junior Martha Haas was not long after her in second timed at 1:05.22.

Coming in third out of the four Cyclones was redshirt freshman Jennifer Roessler with a time of 1:06.56, and junior Bryn Ericksen closed out the group in fourth at 1:07.11.

Second Place

The Cyclones had nine second place finishes in the meet, compared to four first place finishes. Second place kept the dual close throughout the meet, but ultimately was not enough for them to overtake West Virginia at the end.

Senior Anna Andersen was close to first place in the 200 yard freestyle the whole race, but in the end could not pass her West Virginia opponent. She finished just 0.29 seconds shy of first place.

Another swimmer within reach of claiming first was Thorson in the 200 yard breaststroke. Thorson and the first place finisher, West Virginia’s Mathilde Kaelbel, battled it out to the end, where Kaelbel finished .01 seconds before Thorson.

Back in a month

West Virginia just got a new aquatic center, so it was also the first time Iowa State competed in the new pool.

The Cyclones will also be back in Morgantown, West Virginia, in about a month to compete in the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships.

“We learned a lot about ourselves,” Sorenson said in a press release. “This was the first time swimming in this pool and when we come back in about a month for Big 12s, hopefully we’ll be dialed in.”

The Cyclones will be back to compete on Friday night and Saturday morning for a double dual meet against North Texas and the University of Northern Iowa at Beyer Pool.