Iowa State diving finished eighth of eight teams in the women’s division of the Georgia Diving Invitational last weekend. The division was won by North Carolina, with Kentucky taking second and LSU finishing in third.
Then on Saturday, Iowa State took down Northern Iowa (UNI) 180-116. The senior night effort capped a dominant home season by the Cyclones, bringing them to 3-0 in Ames.
Georgia Diving Invitational recap
Cyclone Junior Ally Blumenfeld qualified for the finals and placed 12th in the 3-meter event, with a final score of 225.55. She rounded out a solid weekend with top 20 finishes in both the platform and 1m events.
Although Blumenfeld was the only finalist of the weekend for the Cyclones, the team had a strong showing in the platform event, posting four top 20 finishes. The effort was led by junior Kate Mitchell with a 14th place finish.
Mitchell was followed up by freshman Abby Tollefson in 15th, Blumenfeld in 18th and freshman Grace Marek in 19th. Freshman Maggie Bendell completed the strong Cyclone effort with a 23rd place finish.
In the 1-meter event, Blumenfeld led the charge with an 18th place finish. Bendell, Mitchell and Tollefson finished 22nd, 23rd and 24th respectively. Marek came home in 31st.
LSU’s Montserrat Lavenant took home wins in the platform and 1-meter dive, while Aranza Vazquez Montano of North Carolina won the 3-meter.
A big home win over UNI
The meet kicked off with a dominant Cyclone victory in the 400-yard medley relay. All three Iowa State teams would best the Panthers units in a podium sweep. The event would be a microcosm of what was to come.
Junior Corinne Guist picked up the first individual win in the 1000 yard freestyle in dominant fashion, besting the second place finisher by nearly 15 seconds with a time of 10:35.42. Guist continued a great showing with another victory in the 500 yard freestyle, posting a time of 5:09.83.
The dive team was another bright spot throughout the meet. In the 3-meter event, Bendell won for the Cyclones, with a score of 278.95. Blumenfeld (271.60) and Mitchell (270.05) rounded out the podium sweep. The pair of Mitchell and Blumenfeld took home second and third in the 1-meter respectively, one of the few events won by UNI.
The 200-yard butterfly was another podium sweep for Iowa State, led by graduate student Winter Craig with a blistering 2:05.48. Freshman Miray Abay’s 2:08.42 was good for second place, and senior Mallory Miller’s 2:08.95 brought her home with a third place finish.
After securing their perfect home season, the Cyclones will hit the road for the end of the year. They will kick the roadtrip off with a duel against the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday.
