Notes: Hawkeyes Travel to Ames for Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series Dual

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Ames, Iowa, for an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series dual against Iowa State on Friday. Competition will begin at 6 p.m. (CT) in Beyer Pool.

FOLLOW LIVE
• Live results for the meet at Iowa State will be available on Meet Mobile and live video will be available via Facebook Live @CycloneSD.
• Fans can also follow the Hawkeyes on Twitter/IowaSwimDive for live meet updates.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Nathan Mundt is in his first season as head coach after spending six years as head coach of the Iowa Flyers Club. Mundt previously was an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2008-16.
• Iowa has won the last 10 meetings in the pool against Iowa State. The Hawkeyes won the last dual in 2019, 179-121, to clinch the 2019 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
• Iowa returns 10 letterwinners from last season’s squad, including senior diver Sam Tamborski, who was a 2021 NCAA qualifier.

IOWA CORN CY-HAWK SERIES
The Hawkeyes lead the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, 9-4, with victories in football, women’s soccer, volleyball and wrestling. Iowa State notched victories in men’s and women’s cross country.
• Six more points are on the line this week as Iowa and Iowa State meet in women’s basketball on Wednesday, men’s basketball on Thursday and in the pool on Friday.

TAMBORSKI CONTINUES TO DELIVER
Senior Sam Tamborski is off to a strong start to the 2021-22 season, winning four of the six diving events in her first three duals. She qualified for the finals off both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards in Atlanta, finishing fifth (266.15) off the 1-meter and sixth (281.40) off the 3-meter.

NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
Three Hawkeyes have posted NCAA Zone Diving standards this season. Senior Sam Tamborski and sophomore Sarah Ballard have posted qualifying scores off both the 1-meter and 3-meter, while freshman Makayla Hughbanks has a Zone mark off the 1-meter.
1-Meter: Tamborski (287.32), Ballard (286.05), Hughbanks (274.45)
3-Meter: Tamborski (324.10), Ballard (305.03)

GILBERTSON LEADS CHARGE
Junior Kennedy Gilbertson is leading the team in eight different events early in the 2021-22 season. The Wisconsin native has the top times in the 50 free (23.75), 100 free (52.47), 200 free (1:53.92), 100 back (56.61), and as part of the 200-medley (1:45.76), 400-medley (3:55.16), 200-free (1:37.45), 400-free (3:36.72), and 800-free (7:48.14) relays.
• Junior Aleksandra Olesiak is tops on the team in the 100 breast (1:03.59), 200 breast (2:20.80) and 200 IM (2:07.19), while also being on the top five relays.

A STRING OF SEASON-BESTS IN CORAL GABLES
Eight Hawkeyes recorded season-best times in a total of 11 individual events during the Miami Invitational. Junior Payton Lange found her season-best in the 50 free (24.35), 100 free (53.72), 200 free (5:08.48), and 500 free (5:08.48). Junior Anna Brooker also swam her best 500 free of the season (5:04.03), along with her best 200 back (2:03.95), and 200 free (1:54.94).

HAWKEYES SIGN 10 FOR 2022-23
Iowa signed 10 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period in November. The class includes Dani Anglin (Diving, Boynton Beach, Fla.), Olivia Asay (Fly/Back/Free, Downers Grove, Ill.), Alyssa Konz (Diving, Victoria, Minn.), Sabina Kupcova (Free/IM, Levice, Slovakia), Scarlet Martin (Fly/Back/Free, Coralville, Iowa), Sila, Ozkazanc (Free/Back, Ankara, Turkey), Geneva Pauly (diving, Arvada, Colo.), Leslie Wendel (Free/Fly, Winnetka, Ill.), (Emily Wooden (Free/Fly, Chino Hills, Calif.), and Lainey Woodward (Diving, Omaha, Neb.).

RETURNING NCAA QUALIFIER
Senior Sam Tamborski is a three-time NCAA qualifier off the 3-meter springboard. The Colorado native finished ninth in the event at the 2021 Big Ten Championships and she was seventh in 2020.
• Tamborski enters her senior season with the fifth-best 3-meter score in school history at 355.05.

HAWKEYE COACHING STAFF
• Nathan Mundt returns for his second stint with the Hawkeyes and he becomes the seventh head coach in program history. The Indiana native served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2008-16 where he coached 33 All-Americans and 42 NCAA qualifiers and helped the Hawkeyes to six top 40 NCAA finishes and 115 school records.
• Diving coach Todd Waikel enters his ninth season with the program. Waikel has coached five All-Americans during his tenure in Iowa City and 15 NCAA Championships qualifiers.
• Mona Groteguth-Garcia completes the Hawkeye coaching staff, coming to Iowa City following a two-year stint at TCU. She helped the Horned Frogs to back-to-back third-place Big 12 Conference finishes — the best for the program since 2012-13. Groteguth-Garcia also coached at the University of Indianapolis from 2017-19 and she swam collegiately at North Texas.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will return to action on Jan. 15, traveling to Champaign, Illinois, for a Big Ten dual against the Fighting Illini.