Four Swimmers Sign with Cyclones

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State swimming and diving head coach Duane Sorenson announced Thursday a class of four Midwestern swimmers that will enroll at Iowa State next fall and compete for the Cyclones.

The class of 2017 is made up of Wyli Erlechman, Martha Haas, Grace Snyder and Kennedy Tranel.

"The great thing about all four of these young ladies is they're all great individuals and great personalities," Sorenson said. "They're going to be great fits for our team and it's probably one of our better early classes we've signed from the Midwest."

Wyli Erlechman (WHY-lee) hails from Naperville, Illinois, where she attends Nequa Valley High School and competes on the Fox Valley Swim Team, all of which is also the case for current Cyclone Megan Childs. Erlechman's state championship meet is upcoming, but she has seen success at the meet in the past, including medley relay championship.

"Wyli is a tremendous dolphin kicker. She's an underwater specialist. We always talk about how Harper is a good kicker underwater and Wyli's even better," Sorenson said. "We think she can be one of our fastest 100 butterfliers and 100 backstrokers when it's all said and done."

Martha Haas will be the next in a growing line of Cyclones to arrive in Ames via the Aquajets club team. The Minnetonka, Minnesota, native is ranked by CollegeSwimming.com as the state's No. 5 senior, bolstering her resume that includes 2016 "True Team" State Championships in the 200 IM (2:05.08) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.62).

"She's going to be a tremendous breaststroker and very good in the 200 IM," Sorenson said. "She's another very versatile person. As club teammates of [current Cyclones] Emma [Ruehle], Haley [Ruegemer] and Brooke [Evensen], it's good to have that connection going."

Grace Snyder comes to the Cyclones from right down the street at Ames High School. Snyder is a member of the Ames Cyclone Aquatics Club (ACAC) and has earned a myriad of All-State and All-American honors, as well as the Iowa state record in the 200 medley relay.

"She can swim butterfly, which is kind of her specialty right now, but she also is a very good freestyler, breaststroker and so we think she can actually become a very good 200 IMer down the road," Sorenson said. "She's very versatile, a great person, hard worker and great leader."

Kennedy Tranel is a middle distance swimmer from Mukwonago, Wisconsin, who has already made a name for herself at the state championship meet the past two seasons, becoming a finalist in the 200 and 500 freestyles in consecutive years. She'll look to make it three-straight later this month and possibly expand her area of expertise next season as a Cyclone.

"We think she also has great upside swimming the 200 butterfly if we decide to go that route," Sorenson said. "She's very competitive and comes from a great program in the Waukesha Express team and they produce a lot of great swimmers. She can go many different directions."

Sorenson added that while the class of 2017 has seen tremendous success in the pool, he's also impressed with their work the classroom and their commitment to maintaining the Cyclones' status as a CSCAA Scholar All-America team.

"There's no question that they're all great students," Sorenson said. "When we are going through this whole process, we want to make sure they understand what it takes both academically and athletically to compete at this level. All of them have trained at a high level with their club programs, but they're also excellent students. They know the tradition that we have and they want to keep that up."

Sorenson said that he and coaching staff will continue recruiting efforts to solidify the class of 2017. Check back at cyclones.com later on this month to see how the class of 2017 fairs in the upcoming state championship meets.

Players Mentioned

Megan Childs

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