Led by its seniors, Iowa State swim and dive secured seven top-eight finishes on Friday at the Big 12 Championships.

The Cyclones remained in fifth place on the overall team standings with 317 points. West Virginia is just 1.5 points ahead of Iowa State with one more day of swimming and diving remaining. 

Seniors Lehr Thorson and Martha Haas scored NCAA “B” cut times with their performance in the 100-yard breaststroke. Thorson grabbed third place, which is the highest finish of any Cyclone at the Morgantown, W.V. meet.

Haas placed fourth while setting a new personal best. Both fifth-year seniors dropped nearly a second off their previous season best time. 

Thorson finished behind Kate Steward of Kansas and Anna Elendt of Texas. Elendt, broke a nearly ten-year-old Big 12 record in the event with her time of 57.35. 

Texas remained overwhelmingly ahead of the field after three days of competition. Texas, the nation’s second-best team, has 744 points.  

Senior Michelle Schlossmacher Smith placed sixth in the three-meter dive with a score of 324.50. The performance earned the team captain her fourth All-Big 12 honor. 

Another pair of Cyclone swimmers found the podium Friday night in the 100-yard backstroke. Elizabeth Richardson was fifth with a time of 54.65, missing the NCAA “B” cut by .71 seconds. Senior Emily Haan joined Richardson on the 100-back podium after she swam an eighth best time of 54.98. 

Trinity Gilbert followed up her sixth-place finish on Thursday with another top eight finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Gilbert was eighth in the preliminaries before she swam a 54.50 in the finals to grab fifth. Gilbert now has two All-Big 12 honors in two days. 

Sophomore Brinley Horras also now has a pair of All-Big 12 honors after she swam for eighth in the 200-yard freestyle. 

In the last event of Friday’s session, Iowa State’s 200-yard freestyle relay team placed fifth. Emily Haan, Carley Caughron, Martha Haas and Maddie Ziegert dropped 1.01 seconds off Iowa State’s seed time to secure the fifth best spot in the conference. 

On Saturday, eight more Big 12 champions will be crowned. Including in the platform dive, 1650-freestyle and the 400-freestyle relay.