Dec. 12, 2008
IOWA CITY, IA – The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team hosted Iowa State this evening at the Field House Pool as part of the fifth annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series. The Hawkeyes soundly defeated Iowa State 196-104, avenging last year’s 152-148 loss to the Cyclones at Iowa State. The Iowa women are now 4-2 overall this season and 1-2 in the Big Ten.
Iowa opened the meet with an explosive first place finish in 200 medley relay where Danielle Carty, Katarina Tour, Daniela Cubelic and Julie deBruin took first in the event in a time of 1:44.70. Aside from capturing first place, the team set a new pool record in the event, finishing .40 seconds ahead of the old school record of 1:45.10.
Finishing first and second in the 1,000 free were Iowa’s Ashley Dell and Verity Hicks. Dell captured the top spot, touching the wall in 10:18.89 with Hicks coming in behind in a close second at 10:22.89. Christine Kuczek posted the fastest time in the 200 free (1:52.54), with Cubelic taking second in 1:53.77. Carty and Alison Gschwend placed first and second in the 100 back, with Carty finishing first (55.31) and Gschwend finishing second (57.71).In an intense 100 breast competition, it was a race to the wall and Tour was narrowly out swum by Iowa State’s Jeli Nixt. Tour posted a time of 1:04.86, while Nixt won the event in 1:04.75.
In the next two events, the Hawkeyes kept their momentum up and took first and second place finishes in both the 200 fly and the 50 free. Laura Mozdzen and Kathryn Michelau captured the top two spots in the 100 fly with Mozdzen taking first in 2:05.97 and Michelau taking second in 2:06.33. DeBruin earned another first place time in the 50 free in 23.98 and Kuczek finished second in 24.13. Kuczek added to her night by earning first place in the 100 free in a time of 51.81.
The Hawkeyes dominated the Cyclones in the 200 back, posting the top-three finishers in the event. Gschwend finished first (2:05.36), while Cubelic finished second (2:06.51) and Hilary Leigh finished third (2:07.09). Hicks narrowly defeated Dell in the 500 free to take first, touching the wall in 5:01.50 with Dell close behind in a time of 5:04.21. In the 200 IM, Tour took first place in 2:06.36 while Iowa concluded the meet with a strong performance in the 400 free relay. Cubelic, Kuczek, DeBruin, and Gschwend teamed up to claim first in the event, completing the race in a time of 3:28.59.
“I extremely proud of the team,” said Iowa Head Coach Marc Long. “This was a great meet, especially for seniors, because this is the last time they will swim against Iowa State in the Field House. I’m very happy with our performance tonight.”
The Iowa men and women will continue competition as they travel to Miami, FL for their annual winter training trip Jan. 5 – 15. The Hawkeyes will compete in a multiple team dual meet on Jan. 10 against Florida International University, New York University (men only), and Florida Atlantic University at the Bay Vista Aquatic Center on the Florida International University campus.