The ISU swimming and diving team was down early in its Big 12 opener at Texas Christian, but key performances in the final relays won the event for Iowa State.

Plenty of swimmers and divers were key contributors for Iowa State, and ISU coach Duane Sorenson had some great takeaways from the event.

“I thought it really showed a lot of character because we were down quite a bit going into the first break,” Sorenson said. “I challenged them to step up because we have been in this position before and haven’t been able to pull it out, and they did a great job of pulling together.”

Sorenson was also very impressed with the performances from his top two relay teams to finish the event at Texas Christian.

“We get down to the last relay, and all eight of our swimmers swam season-best times,” Sorenson said. “To do that on the road when you’re tired after traveling was phenomenal, and I think we took a big step forward.”

The divers were led by Elyse Brouillette who scored more than 300 on both the one-meter and three-meter boards for the first time this season. Julie Dickinson finished behind Brouillette in the three-meter and made a zone-qualifying score for the first time ever.

“I was really excited,” said ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick. “Sometimes going to our first away meet, you don’t know how people are going to respond to different environments, especially after being home for four weekends in a row. This was also a Big 12 meet, so for putting that and the road together I thought they did outstanding.”

A huge win for the relays and ISU swimmer Amanda Paulson, and the best diving of the season were the highlights of the event, but freshman swimmer Danica Delaquis stepped up for the Cyclones in the 100-meter breaststroke as well.

“I knew going in that the meet was going to be very close,” Delaquis said. “I really wanted to improve my time, and I couldn’t really see the other team’s sideline, but I could hear their team cheering really loud on the last 25 [meters], and that really pushed me to focus on the little things even though I was super tired. I did that and got to the wall as fast as I could.”

The ISU swimming and diving team has a quick break before it hits the water again for the swimmers-only Kansas Invitational Nov. 21-23.