Feb. 5, 2010
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Complete Results in PDF Format | Video Interview with M. Long
IOWA CITY, IA- The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team hosted Northern Iowa and Western Illinois for the final meet in the historical Field House Pool. The Hawkeyes recognized eight seniors at the meet as they ended their dual meet careers as Hawkeyes. It was a bittersweet night as the team closed out an 83 year old tradition at the Field House Pool with a Victory of Northern Iowa and Western Illinois. The Hawkeyes beat UNI 160-60 and Western Illinois 168-60.
“It is bittersweet,” said Head Coach Marc Long. ” Personally I competed here and there are a lot of memories and history just from the butterfly being invented here. Our team gets its and its emotional. I’m still trying to say that the Alumni Meet is the final meet but it’s starting to get to me in the end. We had a great crowd tonight and it was a lot of fun.”
The Hawkeyes swam unique events at the meet instead of their regular event format. The team swam 50-yards of all four strokes and swam a few races that are normally swum at dual meets. It was a fun and energetic meet as the team and the fans cheered on one final dual meet at the Field House Pool. The Hawks must of been excited and pumped up because they won all 10 events plus diving.
Iowa started off the meet with the 400 medley relay. The team of sophomore Daniela Cubelic, seniors Stacia Johns and Julie deBruin and junior Caitlin Polz posted a first-place time of 3:54.05 in the event. The team beat Northern Iowa’s second-place team by over 10 seconds.
Junior Katarina Tour had two individual first-place finishes in the 100 IM and 50 breast. She recorded a time of 58.24 in the 100 IM and 30.28 in the 50 breast. Senior Christine Kuczek won her final individual race at the Field House Pool with a time of 23.93.
The Hawkeyes had four swimmers in the 100 free that all placed in the top four spots. Junior Verity Hicks won the event with a time of 52.46. Sophomore Danielle Carty came in behind Hicks for second-place with a time if 53.52. The 100 free was not the only event that the Hawkeyes swept the top four places.
There was a 10-mintue break before the last event of the night. Head Coach Marc Long had the team huddle together during the break to take a moment and remember the historical pool where they all made so many memories. Tour, Cubelicm DeBruin and Kuczek teamed up for their final race and finished in first-place. The team posted a time of 1:35.78.
“The dual meet season went great for men and women,” added Coach Long. “We are excited we got to see what we needed to see. However, now we go on to the championship season meets. That is what we have been gearing up for and training for. We are excited for both the men and women. Now its fine tuning time of year, a lot of people call it the taper time but we prefer to use the term fine tuning. We just need to work on perfecting things we have been working on all year and work on strength and endurance as we enter the championship season.”
Junior Iowa diver, Veronica Rydze placed first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. She earned a score of 270.95 in the 1-meter and 278.20 in the 3-meter. Freshman Mary Sue LeMay placed third in the 1-meter (242.60) and fourth in the 3-meter (197.90). Senior Brittany Logan placed fourth in the 1-meter (202.00) and fifth in the 3-meter (189.55).