Iowa State Travels to Missouri to Open Big 12 Schedule

AMES, Iowa- The Iowa State swimming and diving team opens up Big 12 competition Saturday when they square off against the Missouri Tigers. The meet begins at 12 p.m. from the Mizzou Aquatics Center in Columbia, Mo.

The Cyclones had their first meet of 2009 last Friday, taking down St. Olaf 186-86. Iowa State collected victories in 12 of the 16 events competed in. The win improved ISU's dual meet record to 6-2 for the season. The last time Iowa State collected six dual meet wins in a season was the 2002-2003 season when they finished with a 6-3 dual meet record.

Performance Chart

Performance Chat

“We have not really talked about our win-loss record,” said head coach Duane Sorenson. “We are focusing on the details to swim faster. We are excited to be 6-2 but we have three really challenging meets coming up in the next three weeks so we will see where we are after that.”

Sophomore Jeli Nixt goes into the meet with a 7-0 record this season in the 100 breaststroke but faces her stiffest competition of the season so far in Tigers sophomore Morgan McCleery. At the Tigers' last meet, a double-dual meet with Indiana and Ohio State, McCleery posted the second fastest time in school history with a 1:03.19. Nixt's career-high is a 1:03.71 at last season's Big 12 Championships.

“This is what she is going to face in the Big 12 Championships in swimmers like Morgan,” said Sorenson. “Texas A&M has a couple of good breaststrokers and so does Texas so it will give her a taste of the Big 12 Championships and we will see how she responds. She has looked very strong in practice so we hope she can keep it going.”

Missouri freshman Lisa Nathanson has a unique connection to Iowa State. Nathanson's club coach was current Iowa State assistant coach Kelly Nordell. Under Nordell at the Des Moines Swim Federation, Nathanson qualified for the Junior and Senior Nationals in the 50 freestyle.

In diving, the Cyclones will be competing against two of the better divers in the Big 12 in senior Kendra Melnychuk and freshman Jordan Morcom. Melnychuk holds the Missouri school record at 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. Morcom is already in the top three all-time at Missouri for 1-meter and 3-meter and earned Big 12 Diver of the Week honors back in October.

“We talk about focusing on what you can control because you cannot control your competition,” said diving coach Jeff Warrick. “We are shooting to do our best and take that next step further. We set goals for setting season and personal bests. We take it as an opportunity to dive against good competition.”

This is the first time since the Iowa meet in December that the Cyclone divers will have opposition from the opposing team. Warrick believes that the meets without the competition will help them out going into their next few meets.

“In those situations before when we did not have competition it helped to do those harder dives because there was not so much pressure,” said Warrick. “Now that they can complete those dives off, they are looking forward to having someone to compete against except themselves.”

Missouri also hosts the 2009 Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Zone Diving Qualifying meet. The coaches talked about getting used to the facility, which the Cyclones will be competing in frequently in the next month.

“It is a matter of getting comfortable with their facility and making it a home away from home,” said Sorenson. “We are fortunate to swim them on Saturday, we are going to go in on Friday night and get used to the pool even more. We will compete there on Saturday and by the time we get back down there in a month we should be comfortable with the facility.”

“The Big 12 Championships will be in this pool,” said Warrick. “There are a lot of good things about this meet. We take it as an opportunity to dive against good competition. The team knows the Championships are only five weeks away so I think this will be a good opportunity for us.”