Completed Event: Swimming and Diving at UNI on January 10, 2026 , Win , 171, to, 129
Final
Swimming and Diving
171
UNI
129
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Iowa State University Athletics
Cyclones Come Together to Maintain Slim Lead
03.05.2008 | Swimming and Diving
AMES, Iowa ? Two key performances in an infrequently-performed diving event helped the Cyclone swimming and diving team hold on to a four-point lead to top Nebraska at the Big 12 Championships on Saturday.
“The whole meet came down to four points,” ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick said. “You can't really say it's just the diving, because everyone contributes, but the diving was a big event for us.”
Heading into the platform diving finals, an event that is never performed in dual meets throughout the season, the Cyclones held a slim, six-point lead over the Huskers, 284-278. Senior Tien Tran and junior Kali Fryklund both had to execute impressive dives to maintain Iowa State's slight advantage.
“Going into finals, Kali was in sixth place and Tien was in second and Nebraska had two divers in there as well, so we really needed to keep our placing in order to make sure Nebraska didn't get ahead of us,” Warrick said.
With her personal-best score of 215.95, Fryklund captured sixth place. Tran's 235.10, the second-highest point total in ISU history, earned a second-place finish. The successful dives combined for 30 points towards the team score and helped maintain the lead over Nebraska, 321-313.
“Both of our girls came through, which was great,” Warrick said. “Kali needed to improve her score, her best ever, so that was really good to see. It was pretty exciting to come down to the end like that. Tien was right at her personal best, just a point under it, but was able to hold on.”
Because the meet was so close, the dives were of tremendous importance to the team scoring. The strong scores in the platform diving event paved the way for the last event, the 400 freestyle relay.
“It came down to the relay,” said Warrick. “As long as we didn't get disqualified, even if we got last, we were going to be able to pull it off.”
The Iowa State relay finished in sixth place, cementing the ISU lead over Nebraska, 347-343.
“The meet was awesome,” Fryklund said. “It was a lot like the Iowa meet because every team member counted and we all had to pull together; it wasn't one shining star that did it for all of us. That was nice for all of us to pull together.”
Though teammate Tran was also impressed with the performance of the team as a whole, she felt the pressure before her dive.
“I knew it was a solid dive, but I had to really make my entry and try just to relax,” Tran said. “I was really nervous and I definitely felt the pressure, but it feels really good because everyone performed really well, both swimmers and divers. It was great to come together as a team to meet our goals.”
For head coach Duane Sorenson, the performance demonstrated the overall team effort put in by his squad
“Depth in swimming plays a greater role in team success than in other sports,” said Sorenson. “At the Big 12 swim meet, you score 16 places. In a six-team meet, you can see how important having a team effort is toward your final score. Our kids did a great job up and down the lineup, swimmers and divers.”
Players Mentioned
Diving
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