Hundley's Rise To Captaincy

At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, senior Evan Hundley prepared for her final season at Iowa State in another new role: team captain. From the moment she enrolled at Iowa State, Hundley was groomed for the position. Her father was an engineering student and football player at Kansas State University, so Hundley came into Iowa State fully aware of the expectations of a Division I student-athlete. Head coach Duane Sorenson saw the potential in Hundley during her freshman year and pushed her to get involved with the many opportunities Iowa State has to offer.

"When she first came here, we talked to her about how she had the personality to be a great leader," Sorenson said. "She made good decisions, thought quickly on her feet and had pretty good common sense. We talked about all the opportunities out there through SAAC [Student-Athlete Advisory Committee] and being a leader on the team."

Hundley took the advice and always strived to better herself and her teammates. In her sophomore year, she was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Then in her next two seasons, 2018 and 2019, she was honored with a perfect 4.0 GPA, all while swimming top-15 times in Cyclone history. Compared to the general Iowa State student body, Hundley is an outlier in her own right. She was one of 26 out of 556 Industrial Engineering students that earned a 4.0 in the fall 2018 semester.

"It's a new level," Hundley said. "Not only are you competing at a higher level in swimming, but the school work is harder and more consuming, and there's other organizations you can be a part of. You're managed less, so you have to take care of more stuff. Harper Emswiler is an engineer too, and seeing her finish everything motivated me."

During her time as a Cyclone, Hundley's bounced around a variety of events. In her freshman year, she swam the 1000 free and 200 back consistently, but moved to the 50 free and backstroke for her sophomore season. Her junior year featured more 100 back swims, but she has seemingly traded the 100 back for the 100 free in her final season.

"She swam where she was needed to help the team," Sorenson said. "When she was younger, she was a distance swimmer. Then we needed help in the sprint free events, so she started going there. Then we needed someone in the backstroke events, and this year, she has been swimming the 50 free the most consistently."

While Hundley showed excellence in the pool and in the classroom, she still recognized that there was more she could do in her time at Iowa State. She became heavily involved in SAAC, serving on the student organization's executive board. SAAC's major events include the annual CyCans food drive and Soles4Souls shoe collection, and more service opportunities are organized throughout the year.

"Community service is one of the best parts of SAAC that we do," Hundley said. "I was able to help deliver the gifts for Adopt-a-Family, and seeing how thankful the volunteers at the community center were. Even in just the one small thing, kids being able to get presents for Christmas, is really cool."

Hundley has been able to push her teammates to get involved in the community. The team always strives to have the most hours per team member among Iowa State Athletics. Her service on the executive board allows her to know what opportunities are available and allow the entire team to see the impact of their actions. Throughout all of Hundley's career, she has been taught that there are no excuses to not perform at a high level in the pool, classroom and community.

"Seeing people get involved and excel in school and in the pool, it shows you anything is possible," Hundley said. "I've tried to do that too by being on the exec board, achieving in the classroom and making it to every practice. It's a good way to set an example that [my teammates] can achieve all that stuff, that you can't use swimming as an excuse."

Since Hundley's freshman season, the bar has been raised significantly for Iowa State swimming and diving. The GPA goal for the team has jumped nearly 0.3 points in her time, and she has helped create a culture of excellence within the program. This season, the team earned a top-10 GPA nationally, with each team member posting a 3.0 GPA or better.

"The GPA goal has always been raised higher and higher," Hundley said. "The growth and pride we take in that makes everybody a little more motivated to aim higher the next semester. Even if people are frustrated in the pool, they can take pride in their classwork."

As Hundley's eligibility expires at the end of the season, she recognizes the opportunities Iowa State has given her outside the pool.

"The amount of support we get is crucial," Hundley said. "We have [Jeff Cesler] working for us all the time and Joanna [Beaton] prepping us for the career we want to go into. One of the things I've tried to realize is that swimming doesn't last forever. What we do in the classroom is important and we need to take advantage of all the career opportunities we have."

As active as Hundley has been outside the pool, her final Big 12 Championships still have a lot of meaning to the senior.

"It's time to get the job done," Hundley said. "By the time that you're a senior, you have the experience to do what you want to do, you know what's coming up. You just have to have the mindset that it's the last time you're going to do it, so you have to leave everything in the pool."

Hundley and the Cyclones begin the 2019 Big 12 Championships on Feb. 27 in Austin, Texas. The action will be livestreamed by FloSwimming. Follow the team on Twitter (@CycloneSD) or on Facebook at facebook.com/cycloneSD for in-game updates, post-meet recaps and results throughout the season.

Players Mentioned

Harper Emswiler

Evan Hundley

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics