Iowa State swim and dive in third place after two days at Big 12 Championships
Senior Savanna Townsend races in the Women 500 Fly race. Iowa State Swim and Dive hosted the Alumni Cardinal and Gold meet on Sept. 30.
February 23, 2017
Day one of the Big 12 Swim and Dive Championship ended in school-record-breaking style for the Iowa State swim and dive team.
In the 200-yard medley relay, a squad made up of all juniors Kasey Roberts, Danica Delaquis, Harper Emswiler, and Laura Miksch set the third best time in Iowa State history at 1:40.54.
After a short break for men’s diving, another Cyclone squad made up of freshman Keely Soellner, junior Silqi Luo, senior Brooke Evensen, and Roberts took third in the 800-yard freestyle relay. At 7:19.57 the team earned the fourth best time in Cyclone history.
The Cyclones ended the first day in third place with 64 points, four points away from second place.
Day two of the championship started with another record breaking performance from sophomore Haley Ruegemer. The Cyclone touched at 4:50.97 in the 500-yard freestyle race, the third best time in Iowa State history. Ruegemer placed in heat A with Soellner for the final races. Junior Mary Kate Luddy and freshman Jessie Storer placed in heat B for the finals in the same race.
In the 50-yard freestyle race, Miksch placed in the A heat for finals with a time of 22.71 seconds. Her time is the second fastest in Iowa State history. Senior Savanna Townsend also placed in heat A and Emswiler placed in heat B for finals in the same race.
In 1-meter diving prelims, senior Julie Dickinson placed fifth with a score of 270.85 and moved on to finals. Senior Becky Stochl took ninth place at 242.65 points. Redshirt freshman Alex Aaberg was cleared by the NCAA to compete for the Cyclones and took tenth place with a score of 219.90, freshman Katherine Mueller took sixteenth place at 212.85.
In the finals heat, Soellner a Second Team All-Big 12 honor for her time in the 500-yard free style, took fifth with another record setting time of 4:48.09.
Townsend ended her collegiate swimming career with a new personal record in the 50-yard freestyle. She touched the block at 23.35 seconds and took eighth place in heat A.
The Cyclones ended day two still in third place with 206 points, this time 2.5 points behind Kansas in second place.
