The ISU Swim and Dive team started the early afternoon meet lagging behind with multiple third, fourth, and fifth places against the University of Illinois Fighting Illini before falling 164.5-135.5.

It wasn’t looking like a good start for the team, until the 100-yard backstroke.

Senior Marissa Engel pulled into the touch pad taking first place with a time of 57:97. Shortly behind was sophomore Harper Emswiller taking second and Guy Shilon taking third with times of 58:08 and 58:18, respectively.

This event sweep was a crucial turning point for the Cyclones.

Celebrating two first place wins on her birthday was sophomore Kasey Roberts. Roberts took first in the 100-breaststroke and the 200-yard breaststroke.

“It was fun to see the backstrokers go 1-2-3, and then having Danica [Delaquis] and I follow up with a 1-2, so it was really motivating for the rest of the meet,” Roberts said.

On three-meter diving, Iowa State stayed competitive within the team. Junior Julie Dickinson and senior Elyse Brouillette were often mere points away from each other throughout the event. Ending the three-meter, Dickinson took first with 302.85 points and following behind was Brouillette with 300.98 points.

“It was really exciting for me to see how close we were in the meet and it really made me want to step up,” Dickinson said.

The 200-yard breaststroke and the diving places pulled the Cyclones in to take the lead in the meet by one point, 94-93.

The lead was being fought over again as the Fighting Illini regained it 130.5-114.5.

The roles were then changed on the one-meter board.  Brouillette took first place with 273.67 points; Dickinson took second with 270.97 points.

“I feel like it’s more friendly [competition], we definitely push eachother to do bigger stuff, so it’s really exciting,” Dickinson said.

In the last event of the meet, the 400-yard free relay, second and third places were often fought over. Milliseconds separated the Cyclones and the Illini for what could be the winning points. The Cyclones earned third place with a time of 3:31:19 while the Illini took second with a time of 3:30:82.

The final score ended in an Illini victory by 29 points.

The Cyclones are back in Beyer pool tomorrow against Washington-St. Louis at 1 p.m.