Dec. 5, 2014
IOWA CITY, Iowa —The University of Iowa’s 200-yard freestyle relay swam to a school record during the opening day of the Hawkeye Invitational on Friday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
The quartet of junior Olivia Kabacinski, sophomore Emma Sougstad and freshmen Meghan Lavelle and Mekenna Scheitlin swam to a time of 1:31.30 to open up Friday’s final session. The previous record of 1:31.68 was set during the 2012 season.
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“It was a good day; we got some NCAA cuts and set some good records,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We’re looking forward to getting back in the pool tomorrow with some more swims and dives.”
Junior Olivia Kabacinski recorded an NCAA `B’ cut time of 22.88 in the 50 free. Kabacinski qualified for the finals with season-best time of 22.80.
Senior Becky Stoughton kept the momentum rolling in the 500 freestyle after swimming to a season-best time of 4:47.40.
The Hawkeyes had a strong showing in the prelims for the 200 individual medley event. During the qualifying session, Iowa placed five Hawkeyes into the eight-person `A’ final. Sophomore Emma Sougstad, who swam to a qualifying time of 2:00.94 in the prelims, paced the field swimming to a time of 2:01.13 in the finals. Juniors Colleen Champa and Allison Orvis were close behind taking second and fourth place. Champa finished second with a time of 2:02.19; Orvis placed fourth touching in at 2:04.31.
The quartet of Sougstad, senior Summer Campbell, junior Olivia Kabacinski, and freshman Rowan Hauber swam to a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay, coming in with a time of 3:41.66.
In the diving well, senior Joelle Christy led the Iowa divers on the 1-meter with a score of 283.40 in the finals. Fellow senior Lauren Kelba was just behind with a sixth-place finish after diving to a score of 270.45.
“It went great, I was very pleased to get three girls into the finals,” said UI diving coach Todd Waikel. “That’s the first step — getting into the finals. Once you’re there, you get the opportunity to battle again. Joelle, for example, was nearly 20 points higher tonight than she was this afternoon, that’s what you want as a coach.
“When we get to finals, I want us to step up and get even better, and that’s what we did tonight. I’m very pleased with the way we battled tonight and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The Hawkeyes are in second place through day one with 220 points. Denver is leading the way with 238 points, Washington State is third (163) and Milwaukee is fourth with 92 points.
Prelims resume Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. (CT).
