Harris Grabs 11th in 200 IM at Big 12 Championships

02.24.2011 | Swimming and Diving

By: cyclones.com

RESULTS

AUSTIN, Texas – Dani Harris led the Cyclones on day two with her 11th place finish in the 200 IM at the Big 12 Championships. The Cyclones sit sixth in the team standings with 89 points. Texas A&M is in the lead of the team standings with 336 points.

Dani Harris returned to the pool in the evening for the 'B' final of the 200 IM. Harris swam to third in the heat, 11th overall with a time of 2:01.99. Harris' time ranks as the third-fastest in school history, improving on her previous best time of 2:02.92, which used to be the third-fastest in Iowa State history. The sophomore just missed out on an NCAA 'B' cut by .06 seconds.

“Dani swam her race a little off of what we wanted in prelims,” Iowa State head coach Duane Sorenson said. “We made a couple of strategy adjustments for finals and she went out and swam a lifetime-best in the consol final.”

Iowa State kicked off the night session with the 200 free relay. The team of Katie Vollhaber, Sarah Norris, Jeli Nixt and Harris finished the race sixth in 1:34.60. The time was the 10th-fastest in school history.

“For that group to go and swim the time they did was great,” Sorenson observed. “That is a young team with a freshman and two sophomores on there and none of the team was on the relay last year; they did a nice job.”

Iowa State did not earn any points in the 500 freestyle but still had a strong lineup of swims. Jenny Vondenkamp finished 20th (4:55.52) with Megan Thompson right behind in 21st (4:56.71) and Meredith Doran grabbing 23rd (4:58.92).

“This morning, Meredith broke five minutes for the first time in her career,” Sorenson stated. “Megan had a very strong prelim swim, breaking 4:56. Jenny then had a really nice swim this morning and came back strong at night to match that swim.”

In the diving well, Sarah Nelson led Iowa State on the boards, finishing 12th on 3-meter with a score of 271.65. The score was the second-best of her Iowa State career on 3-meter.

“I thought she did fantastic,” diving coach Jeff Warrick said. “That was her highest placing at the Big 12's in any event and her best score on 3-meter at the conference by over 30 points. She was very steady, she did all those small things just a little bit better, which is what we want in the competition.”

Jessica Nicholson just missed out on scoring for the Cyclones, finishing 17th with a 242.75. Abby Christensen, Jenn Botsch and Justine Anders finished 19th through 21st, respectively.

“We just have to be more consistent,” Warrick noted. “We had some ups and downs and you just can't miss in this meet. We have to go for it and we will do better.”

The Cyclones resume action tomorrow with preliminary swimming events beginning at 10 a.m. CST, 1-meter diving beginning at 1:30 apm. and finals starting at 6 p.m. The prelims session will be streamed live on big12sports.com and live stats will be available for both sessions as well.

Team Standings (After Seven Events)
1. Texas A&M, 336 points
2. Texas, 301.5 points
3. Missouri, 212.5 points
4. Nebraska, 128 points
5. Kansas, 122 points
6. Iowa State, 89 points

Individual Results (ISU Team Point Scorers Listed)
200 Free Relay
1. Texas, 1:28.15
6. Iowa State (Katie Vollhaber, Sarah Norris, Jeli Nixt, Dani Harrs), 1:34.60

3-Meter Diving
1. Maren Taylor (Texas), 344.80
12. Sarah Nelson, 271.65

500 Freestyle
1. Cammile Adams (Texas A&M), 4:39.14

200 IM
1. Karlee Bispo (Texas), 1:55.15
11. Dani Harris, 2:01.99

50 Freestyle
1. Kelsey Amundsen (Texas), 22.50