Cyclones Defeat SDSU in Home Opener

Friday, October 20

Ames, Iowa

6:00 PM

Iowa State

190

South Dakota State

Cyclones Defeat SDSU in Home Opener

10.20.2006 | Swimming and Diving

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State's swimming and diving team had an impressive win Friday at Beyer Hall in the team's home opener. The Cyclone's took first place in 15 of 16 events and came away with a 190-95 victory over the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University.

The Cyclones were led by outstanding performances from sophomores Lindsay Wegner and Marni Benson.

Wegner, a native of Hutchinson, Minn., had a career best night in the 200 back, placing first with a time of 2:09.88. Wegner was also the leadoff leg in the winning 200 medley relay (1:49.87) and earned first place honors in the 100 back (59.02).

Benson, also a member of the winning 200 Medley Relay (1:49.87), placed first in both the 100 breast (1:06.68) and the 200 breast (2:25.48).

“Lindsay (Wegner) and Marni (Benson) both provided us with great races. They competed well and really did a nice job in every event they were in,” said head coach Duane Sorenson.

The Cyclone divers also had impressive performances. Sophomore Haley Haynes had a high score of 266.55 in the 1-meter and teammate Tien Tran captured the 3-meter diving crown with a score of 288.37, which puts her tenth on Iowa State's all-time top dives list in that event. Tran also won the 1-meter (245.48) because Haynes was competing as an exhibition diver in the meet.

“Overall, the two had a great meet,” said head diving coach Jeff Warrick. “Although there are some things that we need to work on, there were definitely many positive things about the girls' performances.”

Haynes and Tran's scores also qualified them for the Zone Diving Championships, which in turn gives them the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Haynes qualified in the 1-meter event and Tran in the 3-meter.

“I've never had two young divers qualify for the Zone Diving Championships in the first meet of the year,” added Warrick. “Haley and Tien are both great teammates and really push one another to improve and continue to get better, and it really shows in their performances.”

Iowa State's next meet is a home contest against the Mavericks from Nebraska-Omaha. The meet will be held in Beyer Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. Admission is free.