Big 12 Weekly Recap: West Virginia Wins Final Dual Meet at Home Natatorium

Photo Courtesy: West Virginia Athletics

Coming off winter training, our Big 12 Conference saw some exciting action this weekend with the Texas Longhorns defeating SEC foes Auburn and Georgia, while West Virginia University hosted their final dual meet at their home pool against conference rival Texas Christian University.

Meanwhile, out west, the Iowa State Cyclones defeated Omaha on the road and Northern Iowa at home.

The WVU Mountaineers hosted their final meet in the WVU Natatorium, while their new aquatic complex is under construction.

Saturday also was Mountaineer Senior Day, where WVU celebrated the accomplishments of 11 seniors: Jake Armstrong, Marah Bieger, Julia Calcut, Drew Damich, Tristen DiSibio, Merwane El Merini, Lexi Glassmire, Emma Harris, Averly Hobbs, Jake Preaskorn and Madelyn Woods.

The Mountaineer men won 15 of 16 events to beat the Horned Frogs, with a score of 233-64, while the women won all 16 events and claimed a 208-92 victory.

This brings the men to a 6-0 record against TCU, and 4-1 overall this season, while the women have posted three consecutive against the Horned Frogs and are 3-2 so far this year.

Junior Morgan Bullock led the lady Mountaineers into battle with three individual wins, including a pool record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.34. Senior Emma Harris, juniors Jack Frazier and Julia Nilton and sophomores Giselle Gursoy and Ally VanNetta all won two individual events for the Mountaineers.

For the men, the top four spots in the 100 breaststroke were taken by Mountaineers, as Armstrong touched the wall in first in 55.58, just ahead of DiSibio, in 55.87. Freshman Fausto Huerta (56.10) followed in third and sophomore Ben Brooks (57.78) was fourth.

The breaststroke dominance was continued with Harris and DiSibio’s wins in the 200 breaststroke. It was Harris’ second individual win of the day, as she led the women with a 2:19.34. DiSibio won with a 2:05.35, ahead of junior Jack Portmann‘s 2:07.05.

El Merini won the 50 freestyle in 20.94 to lead a 1-2-3 Mountaineer finish, as junior Sam Neaveill was second (21.07) and Damich was third (21.39). For the women, Nilton earned the win with a 23.35.

Next for the Mountaineers will be an away meet with Penn State on Friday, January 18 before they face Big 12 rival Iowa State, the following weekend.

For complete results of WVU’s final dual meet, click here.

Iowa State Defeats Omaha and UNI

While the Mountaineers hosted their final home meet, Iowa State took on Omaha, defeating the Mavericks 153-68, bringing their record to 4-3.

The Cyclones won 11 of 13 events in the dominate victory, beginning the meet by winning the first seven events.

The top relay squad of Emily Haan, Martha Haas, Elynn Tan and Anna Andersen combined for a 3:53.79, over 10 seconds faster than the fastest Omaha team. Haley Ruegemer clocked in a 1:55.97 in the 200 free for her first event win of the season, while Lucia Rizzo took the top 1000 free spot with a 10:39.64.

Andersen won the 50 free in 24.54 and Kami Pankratz earned a victory in the 200 IM by out-touching the Maverick’s Martini with a 2:11.54 to round out the first half of the meet.

On the boards, Dana Liva won the three-meter diving with a 269.70. Jessica Coffin posted her best three-meter score on the three-meter with a 198.45. Sydney Ronald took second in the one-meter competition with a 253.58, Liva just behind her with 251.47 points.

In the diving well against UNI, Liva won both springboard competitions as well. She posted her best score this season of 282.40 on the one-meter and just under her season-best at 294.90 on the three-meter. Ronald came in second against UNI in both competitions with a 264.60 and 291.85, respectively. On the one-meter, Alex Aaberg (230.05) and Jessica Coffin (186.90) both set PRs.

In the pool against UNI, Haan and Thorson earned runner-up finishes in the 200 back (2:07.36) and 200 breast (2:23.12) out of the break. Ruegemer changed some of her turns in the 500 free, which helped her win the 500 free at 5:05.79, with Rizzo just behind her in second at 5:06.59. In the 100 fly, Iowa State again used their depth to take second through fourth. Tan led the way with a 58.03

Cyclones Head Coach Duane Sorenson commented on the double-victory weekend: “I’m very pleased with how our women performed,” said Sorenson. “They have some really outstanding individuals, but we had to take care of business in races we could win”.

Up next for the Cyclones will be home dual with Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 18, before hosting Big 12 rival WVU the following weekend.

For complete results for the Omaha dual, click here.

For complete results for the UNI dual, click here.

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