Cyclones Win Thriller Over Mountaineers, 158-141

Friday, January 29

Morgantown, W. Va.

4:00 PM

Iowa State

124

173

Villanova

Cyclones Win Thriller Over Mountaineers, 158-141

01.29.2016 | Swimming and Diving

By: cyclones.com

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Iowa State swimming and diving team (6-4, 2-0 Big 12) topped West Virginia (1-5, 0-2 Big 12), 158-141, in a thrilling finish and fell short to Villanova (7-1, 2-0 Big East), 173-124, in a co-ed double dual Friday night at WVU Natatorium.

The win over the Mountaineers improved the Cyclones to 3-0 in the all-time series, while the matchup with the Wildcats was the first between the teams. The last two meetings between Iowa State and West Virginia have been decided by a total of 31 points.

Races were tight coming out of the gate, as the Cyclones took the second and fourth spots in the 400 medley relay to open the night. The Iowa State 'A' squad of Marissa Engel, Kasey Roberts, Kaylee Kucera and Mary Kate Luddy took second in a time of 3:53.92, just 1.07 seconds ahead of the Iowa State 'B' grouping in fourth.

Silqi Luo took third place in the 200 freestyle for the Cyclones, touching in 1:52.65. That was followed by three Iowa State swimmers – Engel, Harper Emswiler and Guy Shilon – all placing in the top half of a 12-swimmer field in the 100 backstroke. Emswiler led the Cyclone effort with a time of 57.88 seconds.

Danica Delaquis continued her recent surge in rivaling Roberts as the fastest breaststroke swimmer for the Cyclones as the pair finished in the top two spots of the 100 breaststroke for the second-straight meet. Roberts took the crown with a time of 1:04.76 and Delaquis finished in 1:07.14.

The 50 freestyle was another tight race between the three squads, with the top-eight finishers separated by just .95 seconds. Team captain Savanna Townsend led the Iowa State effort, touching in 24.42 seconds.

Entering the diving break, the Cyclones trailed the Mountaineers, 78-71, and the Wildcats, 89-59.

As they have all season, Elyse Brouillette and Julie Dickinson led the Cyclones in the diving well, both finishing in the top-5 of both events. Becky Stochl also took seventh-place on both boards.

Brouillette took home yet another victory on the one-meter board, tallying 280.00 points to edge out West Virginia's Lindsay Schmidt by 2.45 points. Dickinson took third with 261.75 points, while Stochl earned a mark of 219.35.

On the three-meter board it was Dickinson's turn to lead the Cyclones, as she finished with a score of 285.35 to take second place. Brouillette claimed fifth with 260.70 points, followed by Stochl two slots lower with 224.00 points.

The divers' success proved to be the initial splash that helped the Cyclones build a tidal wave of momentum down the back half of the meet.

Roberts and Delaquis again stood out in the breaststroke field, this in the 200 yard race. Roberts took first place with a time of 2:20.54, while Delaquis took third in 2:25.45. Roberts later turned the night into a 3-for-3 sweep, winning the 200 IM by touching the wall in 2:05.41 to set up the deciding final event: the 200 freestyle relay.

Iowa State's 'A' squad – comprised of Alex Flatness, Townsend, Maddie Rastall and Laura Miksch – swam to a second-place finish in 1:37.17 to put the Cyclones over the 150-point mark and clinch the meet against West Virginia. The Iowa State 'B' group finished close behind with a time of 1:37.68.

Iowa State returns to Beyer Pool for one last meet in the 2015-16 regular season, hosting Kansas Feb. 5-6 for the Cyclones' Senior Day. Competition on Feb. 5 is set for a 6 p.m. start, followed by a 10 a.m. start on Feb. 6.