Tran?s Silver Paces ISU at Big 12 Championships

AUSTIN, Texas- Tien Tran dove to a second-place finish in the platform competition to pace the Iowa State swimming and diving team to fifth-place at the Big 12 Championships. The Cyclones finished with 347 points, edging Nebraska by four points.

The Cyclones carried over Friday's success into the final day, cracking into the record books nine times.

“We had a tremendous day in the preliminaries and did even better during finals,” said Iowa State swimming and diving head coach Duane Sorenson. “We really came through under pressure.”

Saturday's action began with junior Lindsay Wegner, who captured 10th place in the 200 backstroke (2:02.82) and earned a new personal best and the fourth-fastest time in Cyclone history.

In the 100 freestyle, sophomore Abby Glaser took ninth place (50.76). The time is a new personal best and the fourth fastest in Iowa State history.

“Abby had a tremendous freestyle and overall performance throughout the day,” said Sorenson.

Freshmen Jenny Vondenkamp (17:12.68) and Megan Thompson (17:22.12) grabbed 13th and 16th place, respectively, in the 1650 freestyle. Their times rank as the seventh and ninth-best times in school history.

Junior Marni Benson (fourth, 2:15.84) and freshman Jeli Nixt (ninth, 2:18.19) continued the record breaking rampage in the 200 breaststroke. Benson set a new school record and Nixt swam to the third-fastest time in school history.

“Jeli and Marni both had great races. Marni was able to come through and set a school record,” said Sorenson.

In the 200 butterfly, sophomore Lindsey Behrens took 15th and recorded the 10th-best time in school history (2:06.15). Behrens was immediately followed by senior Lindsay Wiesner (2:13.00).

The Cyclones 400 freestyle relay (3:26.32) came in sixth place in the final event of the day to secure the fifth-place finish.

On the boards, Tran took second place (235.10) and scored the second highest point total in Cyclone history. Junior Kali Fryklund took sixth (215.95) and tallied up the third highest score in school history.

“We're very excited with both Kali and Tien's performances in the finals,” said diving coach Jeff Warrick. “Kali recorded a personal best and Tien remained steady the whole time.”

The Cyclones will be back in action March 14 at the NCAA Zone 5 Diving Qualifications and March 20 at the NCAA Women's Championships.

Final Team Standings
1. Texas A&M University         967
2. University of Texas               748
3. University of Missouri          519.5
4. University of Kansas            505.5
5. Iowa State University             347
6. University Of Nebraska         343

Cyclone Results-Finals Day Four
200 backstroke
1. Texas A&M, Kristen Heiss, 1:56.28
10. Iowa State, Lindsay Wegner Jr., 2:02.82
19. Iowa State, Amy Bauer Fr., 2:09.73
20. Iowa State, Emily Welborn Sr., 2:10.30

100 freestyle
1. Texas A&M, Julia Wilkinson, 47.80
9. Iowa State, Abby Glaser So., 50.76

1650 freestyle
1. Texas, Susana Escobar, 16:18.86
13. Iowa State, Jenny Vondenkamp Fr., 17:12.68
16. Iowa State, Megan Thompson Fr., 17:22.12
18. Iowa State, Chelsea Tomek Fr., 17:38.03

200 breaststroke
1. Texas A&M, Alia Atkinson, 2:11.77
4. Iowa State, Marni Benson Jr., 2:15.84
9. Iowa State, Jeli Nixt Fr., 2:18.19
24. Iowa State, Lindsey Frodyma Fr., 2:27.58

200 butterfly
1. Missouri, Melissa Jamerson, 1:59.48
15. Iowa State, Lindsey Behrens So., 2:06.15
16. Iowa State, Lindsay Wiesner Sr., 2:13.00

Platform dive
1. Missouri, Kendra Melnychuk, 284.00
2. Iowa State, Tien Tran So., 235.10
6. Iowa State, Kali Fryklund Jr., 215.95

400 freestyle relay
1. Texas A&M, Christine Marshall, Triin Aljand, Codie Hansen, and Julia Wilkinson, 3:15.55
6. Iowa State, Abby Glaser So., Frances Calzada So., Lindsey Behrens So., and Kalyn Amundsen Fr., 3:26.32

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kalyn Amundsen

Amy Bauer

Lindsey Behrens

Lindsey Behrens

Marni Benson

Marni Benson

Frances Calzada

Frances Calzada

Lindsey Frodyma

Kali Fryklund

Kali Fryklund

Abby Glaser

Abby Glaser

Jeli Nixt

Megan Thompson

Chelsea Tomek

Tien Tran

Tien Tran

Jenny Vondenkamp

Lindsay Wegner

Lindsay Wegner

Emily Welborn

Emily Welborn

Lindsay Wiesner

Lindsay Wiesner

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