ISU Finishes FIfth at Big 12 Championships

COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Iowa State swimming and diving team once again got a boost from their breaststrokers and divers for point hauls. The Cyclones finished fifth with 334 points. Texas edged out Texas A&M for its first title in three seasons with 893 points.

The Cyclone divers sent two to the platform finals with Tien Tran and Kali Fryklund making it to the evening session. Fryklund (200.85) edged out Kansas's Meghan Proehl (200.25) for the eighth and final spot in the finals. Tran posted a career best score of 246.20 in the prelims. In the finals, Tran finished fifth with a new career-high score of 249.35 and a fifth-place finish for All-Big 12 honors on platform. Tran, along with Texas divers Jessica Livingston and Shelby Cullinan and Missouri's Kendra Melnychuk, were the only women's divers to earn All-Big 12 on all three boards.

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“That is a great accomplishment,” said diving coach Jeff Warrick. “This is the first time she qualified in all three finals. It was a fantastic weekend for her and she set her best in the finals.”

Fryklund just missed out on All-Big 12 honors, finishing seventh in the finals (211.75).

“I was so happy for her,” said Warrick. “That was a great way for her to go out and end her Big 12 career on. She is well-deserved of that and she did a fantastic job.”

Senior Marni Benson finished with her third school record of the meet with a 2:15.82 in the 200 breaststroke prelims. Benson went on to lower that time in the finals with a time of 2:15.64 and a fifth-place finish giving her All-Big 12 honors. Jeli Nixt, Lindsey Frodyma and Krista Moyer also collected points for the Cyclones with Nixt finishing 11th (2:17.49), Frodyma in 15th (2:23.62) and Moyer rounding out the group in 16th (2:24.16).

“Marni Benson broke her school record in prelims and broke it again in finals so we are real proud of her,” said head coach Duane Sorenson. “Jeli swam under her personal best in the consolation heat tonight, really put one together. Krista Moyer swam a lifetime best and so did Lindsey Frodyma so we are real proud of them.”

ISU earned points in the 1650 freestyle from Jenny Vondenkamp, Megan Thompson and Taylor Vieau. Vondenkamp took seventh place and her time of 16:50.31 now ranks her third in school history, Megan Thompson touched the wall in 12th place (17:00.79) and Taylor Vieau collected a point with her 16th place finish (17:20.84).

“Our milers have worked really hard all year and it was nice to see them come through today,” said Sorenson. “Jenny placing in the top-seven was very unexpected for herself and her coaches. Megan did an outstanding job by dropping her time by 22 seconds.”

Lindsay Wegner became just the third Cyclone to ever go under the two minute mark with her 200 backstroke time of 1:59.90. That earned her a 12th-place finish in the consolation final. Lindsey Behrens moved up to fourth all-time in the 100 free with her 50.73 in the bonus final of the 100 freestyle.

“Wegs had a senior swim,” said Sorenson. “She put it all out there and broke two minutes which is huge for her.”

The Iowa State swimmers will compete in the Last Chance Meet on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Tran and Fryklund's season will continue March 13-15 with the NCAA Zone Diving Qualification Meet in Columbia, Mo. for a chance to go to the NCAA Championships.

Team Scoring
1. Texas 893 points
2. Texas A&M 831
3. Missouri 584
4. Kansas 491
5. Iowa State 334
6. Nebraska 298

1650 Freestyle
1. Susana Escobar, Texas 16:13.53
7. Jenny Vondenkamp, ISU 16:50.31
12. Megan Thompson, ISU 17:00.79
16. Taylor Vieau, ISU 17:20.84

Platform Diving
1. Jessica Livingston, Texas 360.80
5. Tien Tran, ISU 249.35
7. Kali Fryklund, ISU 211.75
12. Abby Christensen, ISU 184.55
14. Sarah Nelson, ISU 171.65
16. Jenn Botsch, ISU 164.25

200 Backstroke
1. Kathleen Hersey, Texas 1:52.58
12. Lindsay Wegner, ISU 1:59.90

100 Freestyle
1. Karlee Bispo, Texas 48.03
21. Lindsey Behrens, ISU 50.73

200 Breaststroke
1. Kayla Durnill, Missouri 2:11.20
5. Marni Benson, ISU 2:15.64
11. Jeli Nixt, ISU 2:17.49
15. Lindsey Frodyma, ISU 2:23.62
16. Krista Moyer, ISU 2:24.16

200 Butterfly
1. Leah Gingrich, Texas 1:55.18
22. Hannah McCulley, ISU 2:05.89

400 Free Relay
1. Texas 3:13.62
6. Iowa State (Abby Glaser, Frances Calzada, Chelsea Tomek, Lindsey Behrens) 3:25.85

Players Mentioned

Lindsey Behrens

Lindsey Behrens

Marni Benson

Marni Benson

Jenn Botsch

Frances Calzada

Frances Calzada

Abby Christensen

Abby Christensen

Lindsey Frodyma

Lindsey Frodyma

Kali Fryklund

Kali Fryklund

Abby Glaser

Abby Glaser

Hannah McCulley

Krista Moyer

Krista Moyer

Sarah Nelson

Jeli Nixt

Jeli Nixt

Megan Thompson

Megan Thompson

Chelsea Tomek

Chelsea Tomek

Tien Tran

Tien Tran

Taylor Vieau

Jenny Vondenkamp

Jenny Vondenkamp

Lindsay Wegner

Lindsay Wegner

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