The ISU swimming and diving team tacked on two more decisive victories Oct. 31 against Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota. Iowa State was dominant and performed well in not only the usual areas but also some new areas as well.

“We knew it would go one of two different ways,” said ISU coach Duane Sorenson. “Either we would just dominate like we did, or it would be a very close meet. We were very happy with the performance.”

Sorenson was unsure of how the meet against North Dakota would go with two very competitive teams performing.

“They have some very outstanding women on their team, and we just outswam them,” Sorenson said. “We were very competitive, and it went the way we wanted it to go, but you never know until you step on to the blocks.”

Sorenson highlighted the performances of Marissa Engel and Bre Loeschke, who excelled for the Cyclones in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke. He also noted that Kasey Roberts did a great job on her breaststroke, and Amanda Paulson had a standout 50- and 100-yard free style.

Loeschke won the 100-yard backstroke, setting a season best, and finished second in the 200-yard backstroke. 

“There is always room for improvement,” Loeschke said. “But I’ve been working really hard, and we have all been pushing ourselves on the little things. I was happy with the little things I remembered to do in a race, and I was able to relax and not try too hard.”

The divers in the double dual had to deal with all the distractions of swimming and diving running concurrently but performed well and had a good outcome in the meet.

ISU diver Julie Dickinson placed second in the 3-meter event, and her teammate Elyse Brouillette won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

“That was [Dickinson’s] best performance score-wise,” said ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick. “That was a season best and her personal best, and I thought she did really well.”

Warrick had a brief meeting with his divers after both their events had concluded.

“I was reflecting on not only today’s performance but also these series of meets at home, and now we’re going away,” Warrick said. “I was just talking to them about what we have learned, and I highlighted some of the things that I’m thinking about that we really need to work on in practice.”

Warrick had plenty of positive takeaways from the meet and from the brief team meeting they had before the event finished.

“We had a heart-to-heart,” said Warrick. “I told them we have some hard things that we have to do, but we have a great team here, and we’re just going to keep improving if we make these changes.”