Cyclones can’t catch up to Jayhawks in two-day meet

Iowa+State+junior+Silqi+Luo+swims+the+200-yard+butterfly.+Luo+finished+third+with+a+time+of+2%3A12.83.

Iowa State junior Silqi Luo swims the 200-yard butterfly. Luo finished third with a time of 2:12.83.

Rachel Given

The Iowa State swim and dive team couldn’t catch up to the early 54-point lead Kansas built up in the first day of the two-day meet this weekend.

On Friday, Keely Soellner took the top spot on the 1,000-yard freestyle, a race the freshman has been dominating in this season. She touched the pad almost a full two seconds before Kansas’s Libby Walker. Sophomore Haley Ruegemer and freshman Jessi Storer took third and fifth place in the same race, respectfully.

The Jayhawks had two first, second and third sweeps in a row in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Iowa State junior Danica Delaquis broke the sweeps in the 100-yard breaststroke when she took second with a time of 1:05.49.

On the 1-meter diving board, senior Julie Dickinson took first place by over 38 points over Kansas’ diver with a score of 304.80. ISU senior Becky Stochl and freshman Katherine Mueller took third and fifth place on the same board, respectively, to end the first day.

On Saturday, the Cyclones started the first race with a second place finish. ISU senior Maddie Rastall beat out Kansas swimmer Taylor Sieperda by .01 seconds with a time of 53.29 in the 100-yard freestyle to take second place and four points for the Cyclones.

The first and only one, two, three sweep for Iowa State came on the 3-meter diving board. Dickinson took another first place finish with a score of 281.10. Stochl and Mueller took second and third, respectively, again.

Iowa State ended the final race of the competition, the 400-yard freestyle relay, with a second and third place finish.

Iowa State has break in competitions before heading to Texas to compete in the Big 12 conference tournament on Feb. 22.