Swim and dive finish in third place at Big 12s
Iowa State’s Keely Soellner (left) and Jessi Storer (right) take the lead during the 1000-yard free Jan. 28. Storer and Soellner took first and second, with times of 10:31.19 and 10:41.64, respectively.
February 26, 2017
After the four days of competition at the Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships in Austin, Texas, Iowa State walked away with a third place finish, less than 100 points behind second place.
The Cyclones fell shortly behind and slipped into fourth place after the third day of races, but some of their performances were impressive nonetheless.
Junior Harper Emswiler quailified for the A heat for the 100-yard back stroke. Her time of 55.02 seconds set the Cyclone a new personal record and a medal for her seventh place finish.
A new record was set in the 200-yard freestyle relay shortly after. A Cyclone squad made up of senior Savanna Townsend, senior Maddie Rastall, junior Laura Miksch, and Emswiler hit the block at 1:30.85, taking home a silver medal.
In the diving well, seniors Julie Dickinson and Becky Stochl placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
Day four started well on the diving boards. Dickinson, Stochl, and freshman Katherine Mueller all qualified for finals on the platform. This is the second time in program history that three Iowa State divers have gone on to finals in the same event.
In the finals round, Dickinson took second with a final score of 230.25. Mueller finished in fifth with a score of 196.60 and Stochl finished seventh at 190.00. Mueller’s performance landed her Second Team All-Big 12 honors.
Sophomore Haley Ruegemer has had a stellar performance in Austin, and the fourth day of competition didn’t fall short for the Cyclone. Ruegemer posted a time of 16:49.57 in the 1,650-yard freestyle race and took a seventh place finish. Freshman Keely Soellner took third in the same race, touching the block at 16:26.59.
In the final event of the entire competition, the 400-yard freestyle relay, a squad consisting of Townsend, Rastall, Miksch, and senior Brooke Evensen broke the school record. The group touched the block at 3:21.90 and took home a second place finish.
Diving coach Jeff Warrick also took home his own honor as the 2017 Big 12 Championship Diving Coach of the Meet.
The Cyclones’ final score of 591.5 was just 10 points ahead of West Virginia’s.
