Completed Event: Swimming and Diving versus Big 12 Duals on January 16, 2026 , , 5th, 781 points
Final
Swimming and Diving
Big 12 Duals
5th, 781 points
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Iowa State University Athletics
400 IM Record Falls, Cyclones Remain In Fourth
02.23.2018 | Swimming and Diving
AUSTIN, Texas – At the conclusion of day three of the 2018 Big 12 Championships, Iowa State swimming and diving (4-5, 1-2 Big 12) remains in fourth place with 321 points. The second night of competition was highlighted by a nice 1-2 punch by Mary Kate Luddy and Haley Ruegemer in the 400 IM, placing them in the top-two in school history.
PRELIMS
During preliminary competition, Rachel Resch earned a spot in the consolation finals for the 100 fly by swimming a time of 56.22, a personal best. That time also places her as the 17th all-time performer in Iowa State history. In the 400 IM, Iowa State placed four into the finals, led by Haley Ruegemer and Mary Kate Luddy who will compete in the 'A' final. Both 'A' finalists posted top-15 times in school history during preliminary competition. In the 200 freestyle, senior Silqi Luo used a personal-best 1:48.98, the 14th-fastest in Cyclone history, to qualify for the evening 'A' final. Emma Ruehle, who set a PR time to qualify, and Keely Soellner will represent the Cyclones in the 200 free consolation final.
Five Cyclones earned a finals spot in the 100 breaststroke. Danica Delaquis and Martha Haas qualified for the 'A' final, with Kasey Roberts, Laura Miksch and Lehr Thorson all in position for the 'B' final. Thorson would notch a new fastest time in prelims, dropping over 2.5 seconds. Harper Emswiler led the way for Iowa State in the 100 back, setting a new PR time of 54.82. Evan Hundley and Kasey Roberts will also compete in the night's consolation final.
Among the non-scoring swimmers, there were 4 personal records, including 200 free times by Ali Basel, Kat Jones and Polina Shynkarenko, and Bryn Ericksen swimming her fastest time in the 100 breast. The Cyclones will have five swimmers in the evening's non-scoring finals.
FINALS
The 100 fly featured Rachel Resch, who would swim very close to her prelims time, taking 15th overall. In the non-scoring final, Wyli Erlechman swam a 56.40. Her fastest time as a Cyclone marks her as the 20th-fastest 100 fly swimmer in school history.
The 400 individual medley is one for the Iowa State record books. Luddy and Ruegemer finished third and fourth in the event, both topping Petra Plaminkova's 16-year 400 IM school record. Luddy swam the record-breaking time of 4:17.77, with Ruegemer not far behind touching at 4:18.15. Pankratz would finish in 13th, Storer in 15th.
"It felt good out there," Luddy said after the meet. "I told Haley right before we went out it's just like practice. It was comfortable."
Luo would remain in seventh place in the 200 free finals. Soellner would end the night 12th after ending the consolation final with a touch-out for ninth-place overall, Ruehle in 14th. The Cyclones five competitors in 100 breast scoring finals helped boost Iowa State's score. The three in the consolation final, Miksch, Roberts and Thorson swept the nine through 11 spots, while Delaquis would lead the charge in the 'A' final. Her PR time of 1:02.09 placed her sixth and moved her into Iowa State's top-five 100 breaststrokers. Haas would end in eighth place.
In the 100 back, Emswiler's seventh-place finish led the charge for the Cyclones. Evan Hundley would finish 12th, Roberts in 15th. The non-scoring final featured Erlechman cracking Iowa State's top-20 100 backstrokers, now listed in the 16th slot.
In the diving well, Sydney Ronald would be the lone Cyclone in finals competition. In preliminary competition, Ronald would end in seventh with a 287.00. Dana Liva would end the day in 11th, scoring 272.90 and Katherine Mueller ended in 16th with a score of 206.80. In finals, Ronald posted a new career-high score of 305.70, jumping up a spot to sixth-place overall.
Iowa State's 200 freestyle relay squad was disqualified for a bad exchange. Miksch's leadoff time of 22.61 would have broken the school record just a few nights ago, but the time now ranks third all-time. Iowa State ends the night in fourth place, scoring 321 points.
"Our seniors have really come through," head coach Duane Sorenson said after the meet. "They really swam lights out tonight. Mary Kate Luddy broke the school record in the 400 IM, Silqi Luo did a nice job in the 200 free. Danica Delaquis swam a lifetime best and Harper Emswiler swam a lifetime best this morning. We're going to have to keep swimming fast. We can control what we can control and we're doing a really good job racing hard."
Iowa State will be back in action tomorrow morning with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1650 freestyle, platform diving and the 400 freestyle relay.
Players Mentioned
IM/Mid. Distance
/ Swimming and Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Back/Fly/Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Sprint Free/Breast
/ Swimming and Diving
Back/Fly/Sprint Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Sprint Free/Back
/ Swimming and Diving
Distance Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Dist. Free/Fly/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Free/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Sprint Free/Breast
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Sprint Free/Fly
/ Swimming and Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Distance Free/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Mid. Distance/Back
/ Swimming and Diving
Back/Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Distance Free
/ Swimming and Diving
Breast
/ Swimming and DivingThursday, July 22
Monday, January 27
Wednesday, December 19
Monday, December 10
