Cyclones close out Big 12s in Second

AUSTIN, Texas – Iowa State concluded the 2023 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships in second place with 564.5 points. This marks the first time since 2015 that the Cyclones have placed made it up to second, matching the highest finish by the Cyclones at the conference championships in the Big 12 Era. Iowa State earned 22 medals, including four First Team All-Big 12 honors, through the conference meet.

"I am very proud of our women for how they stepped up today," head coach Duane Sorenson said. "We knew it was going to be very close with just a few points separating us, TCU and West Virginia. Our women didn't panic, they just kept doing what they needed to do. With our women moving up in finals and the consolation finals, we scored a few more points than everybody else. This has been an exciting week and accomplishment for our whole program."

Elizabeth Richardson improved her PR to 1:57.97 in the 200 back championship final. Her bronze medal finish remains as the fifth-fastest performance in program history. This marks her second All-Big 12 First Team honor in the event. Madi Dohrn earned her first career medal in the 200 back 'A' finals with a seventh-place finish of 2:00.45, cutting down her prelims time by 0.34 seconds.

Lucia Rizzo notched her third Second Team All-Big 12 honor in the 200 fly as she touched the wall at 2:01.36 in the 'A' finals. Her fifth-place finish was 0.15 seconds off her PR.

Three Cyclones earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors in the 1650 free. Brinley Horras led the team in fifth in 16:44.99 to move up to fourth in ISU history in the event. Corrine Guist wrapped up her freshman campaign in seventh in 16:55.55, good for 11th in school history. Maddy Rundell rounded out ISU's All-Big 12 milers in 16:56.96, putting her at No. 12 in ISU history.

Winter Craig also earned All-Big 12 Second Team in the 200 fly. Her time of 2:02.08 secured her second career Big 12 medal with a sixth-place finish.

Jayna Misra dove in platform finals to earn her second All-Big 12 honor with a score of 213.10. The senior placed eighth overall with the score.

The 400 free relay team, which included Rizzo, Sophia Goushchina, Ashley Bengtson, and Carley Caughron, finished the meet by taking down the four-year old school record in the event. The Cyclone quartet finished fourth in 3:20.33 to put up the third school record of the week, all three involving Rizzo.

Sophia Goushchina (T-10th, 50.36), Carley Caughron (14th, 50.54), and Ashley Bengtson (16th, 51.00) combined for 10.5 team points while racing in the 100 free 'B' finals. They each moved up slots on the all-time top performers list with Goushchina at No. 6 and becoming the 20th-fastest time in program history, Caughron at No. 7 on the performers list, and Bengtson at No. 17.

Madison Rundell, Paige Hanley, and Alaina Breitbach raced to a 12-13-16th places in the 200 breast consolation finals. Rundell fell short by 0.68 seconds to reach a new personal best, but

posted a time of 2:19.08. Hanley notched a time of 2:19.31 while Breitbach secured a time of 2:21.02.

Fallon DeWitt secured a spot in the 200 back 'B' finals with a time of 2:00.56 that landed her in 10th place with seven points.

In distance, Sydney Jackson cut a PR-shattering 2.1 seconds off her mile lifetime-best to post 16:59.14 and become the 15th-fastest performer in Iowa State history.

Ally Blumenfeld, Kate Mitchell, and Joscelyn Buss took a 3-5-7 placement in the platform consolation finals with scores of 212.90, 203.35, and 190.20, respectively. The freshmen duo improved their prelims scores and recorded new personal bests.

Gabrielle LePine and Emily Heymans finished out in the 'C' finals of the 200 breast. While swimming within two seconds of each other, Heymans earned 2:20.44 for 21st place while trimming down her prelims time and LePine landed with 2:22.93 for 24th.

Andie Quirke is tied for the 16th fastest performance after her PR of 50.95 in the 100 free bonus final. Mallory Miller swam in the 200 fly bonus final and touched the wall at 2:05.76.

"Very proud of our women for how they stepped up today. We knew it was going to be very close... just a few points separating us between TCU and West Virginia. Our women didn't panic, they just kept doing what they needed to do," head coach Duane Sorenson said. "With our women moving up in finals and the consolation finals, so we scored a few more points than everybody else. Very excited for our whole program."

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN

First Team All-Big 12: Lucia Rizzo (200 IM, 400 IM), Sophia Goushchina (100 back), Elizabeth Richardson (200 back).

Second Team All-Big 12: Joscelyn Buss (1-meter, 3-meter), Brinley Horras (500 free), Trinity Kay (200 IM, 100 fly, 100 back), Sydney Jackson (400 IM), Paige Hanley (100 breast), Gabrielle LePine (100 breast), Elizabeth Richardson (100 back), Madi Dohrn (200 back), Jayna Misra (Platform), Lucia Rizzo (200 fly), Winter Craig (200 fly), Brinley Horras (1650 free), Corinne Guist (1650 free), Madison Rundell (1650 free).

PRELIMS

Five locked up championship finals slots and another 10 slid into consolation final slots. Swimmers tallied 11 PRs through four events.

Sydney Jackson recorded her name for the first time on the 200 breast top performers list as she swam to top-17 performance in a 2:18.59 exhibition swim.

Craig also stopped the clock for a new PR to move up to No. 2 on the performances list in the 200 fly. Now the fourth fastest time in program history, her 200 fly time of 2:00.91 goes down in the records.

Five of the new personal bests come from the 100 free event. Andie Quirke (51.23), Trinity Sadecky (52.24), and Jasmine Weiland (53.48) each improved their previous times. Goushchina's then-PR of 50.44 was trimmed down by .16 seconds to take the No. 6 slot on the top performers list as it ranks the 20th fastest time. Caughron swam to a No. 7 performance of 50.60 for her then-PR.

Misra earned her second Zone cut of the conference championship during the platform prelims with a score of 229.10. Her PR moved up one spot to No. 9 on the all-time top performers list. Treading behind was Buss with 210, Blumenfeld with 202.05, and Mitchell with 194.70.

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

Kate Mitchell

Andie Quirke

Elizabeth Richardson

Lucia Rizzo

Madison Rundell

Trinity Sadecky

Jasmine Weiland

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