Dec. 5, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team leads the Hawkeye Invitational with 621 points through two days of competition at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
Denver trails Iowa at 524, followed by Incarnate Word at 342, and in fourth, Drury at 252.
“We had a great night tonight, a lot of personal bests and a school record. We stepped up and won the heats, which was what we needed to do.” said head coach Marc Long. “Over all it was a great night and we just have to get ready for tomorrow night.”
The Hawkeyes posted a1-3-4 finish to start the night in the 200-medley relay. Senior Allie Orvis, junior Emma Sougstad, freshman Kelly McNamara, and senior Olivia Kabacinski won the event with a time of 1:39.47 — the second-best in program history.
The Hawkeyes claimed a runner-up performance to end the night in the 800-free relay. Junior Serena Wanasek, senior Oliviia Kabacinski, senior Jennifer Weigand, and sophomore Nikol Lagodzinska touched the wall at 7:21.41, a season best time and seventh-fastest time in program history.
Iowa got a record-breaking time from McNamara in her 100-fly preliminary performance. She touched in a record time of 53.90 seconds. The time is an NCAA “B” standard.
Sophomore Mekenna Scheitlin took third in the 100-fly, posting a time of 54.84, fifth-fastest time in program history, Tereysa Lehnertz followed in fourth place touching at 54.94.
Iowa got a first place finish from Meghan Lavelle in the 100-back. Lavelle swam a time of 54.31, an NCAA “B” standard and topping her own time to claim fourth-fastest time in program history. Orvis came in fourth with a time of 55.32.
Sougstad tallied another first-place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.41. The Forest City, Iowa, native posted a season-best and NCAA “B” qualifying time of 1:00.23 during the morning prelims.
Sophomore Shea Hoyt also had a “B” qualifying time, posting a 1:02.40 in the 100 back, claiming third place.
Iowa also posted a win in the 200 free when Kabacinski finished with a season-best time of 1:48.14.
In the diving well, junior Lydia Lehnert was runner-up on the 3-meter springboard. She finished with a score of 296.00, a season best. Sophomore Morgan Rafferty placed fifth with a score of 273.65.
Day three of the Hawkeye Invitational begins Sunday at 10 a.m. (CT).
