After day one of the Kansas Classic, the Iowa State swim team is in second place (195). Although Kansas is leading by a considerable amount, the Cyclones showed strides of excellence, with many swimmers earning top honors against tough competition.

For individual events at the Classic, swimmers must race in the prelims to start in the morning. From there, the top 16 swimmers’ times make the finals, placing them in either the top heat or ‘B’ heat based on qualifying times. Then, at night, the finals take place. As for relays, there are no finals and the times they earn place them in certain tiers from A to C.

To begin the day for the Cyclones, freshman Lucia Rizzo and senior Haley Ruegemer qualified for the B final in the 500 freestyle by taking 10th and 11th in the prelims. They followed that up in the finals by taking the top two places in their heat, placing them 9th and 10th overall. With her performance, Rizzo moved into 14th on Iowa State’s top performers list in the event.

Emma Ruehle qualified for the top final in the 200 individual medley while Kami Pankratz and Lehr Thorson made the B final. Ruehle took seventh, while Pankratz (11th) and Thorson (16th) also earned points for the Cyclones.

Iowa State’s scorching hot 200 free relay squad of Elynn Tan, Anna Andersen, Evan Hundley and Emily Haan continued their success by placing fifth overall, earning B honors. Their time put them fifth all-time in school history in the event as well.

But perhaps the most impressive performances of the night came from the 50 freestyle, where three Cyclones qualified for the top final and another made the B.

Andersen and Tan tied for fifth overall with the time of 23.43, while Haan finished right behind them in seventh (23.50). Hundley finishing 14th.

Tan and Andersen added their names to Iowa State’s top-20 list at 13th and 17th for their performances.