Cyclones stand in Second Place after Day Three

AUSTIN, Texas – Iowa State sits in second place at the end of day three at the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships with 383 points. Nine Cyclones medaled on Friday, highlighted by Lucia Rizzo's bronze medal in the 400 IM and breaking her own school record in the process.

"Exciting night for the Cyclones to take over second place," head coach Duane Sorenson said. "It's day three we're on, so I thought our women competed well. A lot of lifetime bests were turned in and people were moving up from their seed times and prelims. The surprise swim of the night for me was the relay because I didn't think they were going to make the top four and they were in the fight."

'A' Finals & Diving

Lucia Rizzo broke her 400 IM school record-holding time during the finals on Friday evening. She earned All-Big 12 First Team honors with a third-place finish of 4:17.37. This marks the highest placement by an ISU swimmer in the championship thus far. Rizzo brought down her own 400 IM school record by 0.90 seconds. Sydney Jackson earned a medal in the 400 IM for the first time, while notching a championship time of 4:22.97. Her seventh-place finish marks a PR that is No. 10 on the top performers list.

Gabrielle LePine left her mark on the day as she took possession of her first career Big 12 medal. The freshman improved her prelims time by 0.20 seconds and posted 1:01.28 for her second 100 breast NCAA 'B' cut of the day. She earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors with her sixth-place finish as she is the fourth fastest swimmer with the seventh fastest time.

Trinity Kay improved her prelims time by 0.50 seconds in the 100 fly 'A' finals, finishing out in sixth place with a time of 54.29. Her new PR puts her fourth on the top performers list, and is the 12th fastest time in program history. She also made an appearance in the 100 back championship finals, securing seventh place with a time of 54.83 and a pair of All-Big 12 Second Team nods for the day.

Sophia Goushchina and Elizabeth Richardson also scored in the 100 back 'A' finals while taking a 4-5 finish. The seniors were 0.2 seconds off each other's new lifetime best while moving up on the performances and times list. Goushchina is the second-fastest performer in school history now with the seventh-best time of 54.42 to get All-Big 12 First Team. Richardson is No. 4 on the top performers list as her ninth-fastest time in program history in 54.44.

Paige Hanley earns her second All-Big 12 honor since 2021 in the 100 breast. In the championship finals, she was 0.48 seconds off her lifetime best as she nailed a time of 1:02.73 for eighth place.

Closing out the night in the pool, Goushchina, Caughron, LePine, and Kay teamed up in the 200 free relay to post a time of 1:32.12. Their time altered the record books and is tied for the fourth fastest performance and time.

In the diving well, Joscelyn Buss tallied her 12th NCAA Zone cut this season as she scored 309.65 in the 3-meter diving championship finals, finishing in eighth. This became her first medal in the event and All-Big 12 Second Team honors.

In the 3-meter diving consolation finals, Jayna Misra placed in 11th overall with a score of 292.95, marking her eighth Zone cut this season. Coming up with a 14th-place finish was Ally Blumenfeld with a score of 257.50.

'B' & 'C' Finals

Madi Dohrn fought for points in the 100 back 'B' finals with a time of 56.24, finishing in 12th place.

Alaina Breitbach notched a 100 breast 'B' finals time of 1:04.15 for 12th place.

Ashley Bengtson and Corinne Guist entertained, going 11th and 12th, respectively in the 200 free consolation finals. Bengtson posted a time of 1:49.99 while Guist recorded her second PR of the day with 1:50.68.

Fallon DeWitt competed in the consolation finals of the 400 IM and finished out with a time of 4:25.34 for 12th place.

Carley Caughron, Winter Craig, and Richardson fought for team points in the 100 fly 'B' finals while recording new PRs for the second time of the day. Caughron posted her PR of 54.65 for 13th place, now the seventh-fastest performer in Iowa State history. Craig placed 14th with a PR of 55.18 to sit at No. 8 on the top performers list while Richardson took 16th, touching the wall at 56.35.

Brinley Horras, Andie Quirke, and Jasmine Weiland competed in the 200 free 'C' final. The juniors each secured times within five seconds of each other. Horras claimed 19th place with 1:50.79, Quirke with 1:54.06 for 22nd place, and Weiland with 1:55.84 for 24th place.

In the 400 IM 'C' finals, Mallory Miller improved her prelims time to a new PR of 4:23.19 for 19th place while Emily Heymans placed 22nd with a time of 4:28.13.

PRELIMS

A strong prelims session led to securing nine championship finals slots and nine in 'B' finals. Ten touched with PRs and swimmers and divers made a commanding six edits to the record books.

Breaststroker LePine tallied a new then-PR and an NCAA 'B' cut in the 100 breast. The freshman's 1:01.48 timed finish improved her standing on the Iowa State top performers list and top all-times list. She moved up three spots and trimmed down her time by 0.75 seconds.

Also improving their spots in school history were Carley Caughron (55.23) and Winter Craig (55.33) in the 100 fly, respectively. Trinity Kay earned an 'A' final for the second-consecutive

day, now totaling three All-Big 12 honors this season. She secured a spot in the championship finals for the 100 fly (54.79) and 100 back (54.76).

Elizabeth Richardson cleared her lifetime 100 back then-PR to 54.47 while finishing in second place. Richardson's tenth-fastest time in Cyclone history was the third best performance after cutting down by .6 seconds. Joining her and Kay in the 'A' finals was Goushchina, who was 0.8 seconds off her personal best. Freshman Madi Dohrn advanced to the consolation finals with her 55.81 PR in the 100 back that is the program's 17th-best performance.

Buss advanced to the 3-meter championship finals after her score of 307.65. That marks another back-to-back 'A' finals appearance after her Zone-qualifying score. Joining her with a Zone cut was Misra with 282.10, making the consolation finals. Blumenfeld also earned a consolation qualifying score of 264.95.

The Championship concludes tomorrow with platform diving, the 200 back, 100 free, 1650 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and the 400 free relay. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. Both prelims and finals will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Players Mentioned

Ashley Bengtson

Ally Blumenfeld

Alaina Breitbach

Carley Caughron

Winter Craig

Fallon DeWitt

Madi Dohrn

Joscelyn Farner

Sophia Goushchina

Corinne Guist

Paige Hanley

Emily Heymans

Brinley Horras

Sydney Jackson

Trinity Kay

Mallory Miller

Jayna Misra

Andie Quirke

Elizabeth Richardson

Lucia Rizzo

Jasmine Weiland

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