Photo Credit: Brian Ray<\/p>\n
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams swept the team titles Sunday night as their own Hawkeye Invitational came to a close. Denver’s Sam Corea, Iowa’s Grant Betulius and the Denver women’s 400 free relay set meet records to highlight the final session.<\/p>\n
The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team clinched the three-day Hawkeye invitational Sunday night at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Hawkeyes registered 1,015.5 points — outperforming second-place Denver (793), Washington State (628.5), UW-Wisconsin (390), Notre Dame (155), Nebraska (71), and Iowa State (40).<\/p>\n
“I’m thrilled with how we raced this weekend,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We had a lot of good races and some top performances. I’m happy to see the progress we’re making with a few new records and some NCAA `B’ cuts, but we still have some of our best racing ahead of us.”<\/p>\n
For the second-straight night, Olivia Kabacinski rewrote the UI record books — this time with a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Kabacinski recorded an NCAA `B’ cut in the finals session, touching in with a record-setting time of 49.61.<\/p>\n
Sophomore Emma Sougstad and junior Colleen Champa had a strong one-two showing in the 200 breaststroke after recording a pair of NCAA `B’ cuts. Sougstad took first with a time of 2:12.40 — the second-fastest time recorded in UI history and Champa was close behind with a runner-up finish touching in at 2:12.71 — the third-fastest time in UI history.<\/p>\n
Senior Becky Stoughton rounded out the NCAA `B’ cut times for the Hawkeyes on Sunday after racing to a first-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle. The Peoria, Illinois, native touched in at the 16:21.97 mark, nearly 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up.<\/p>\n
In the diving well, Iowa was represented by three divers in the finals and led the field with a combined 43 points. Sophomore Lydia Lehnert paced the Hawkeye diving with a third-place finish and a score of 257.90. Sophomore Calli Head finished fifth (231.40), and Kelba sixth (225).<\/p>\n
The Hawkeyes return to action Friday, Dec. 12, hosting Iowa State in Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team captured the Hawkeye Invitational title in Sunday’s final race at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Hawkeyes scored 918.5 points throughout the three-day event — edging second-place Notre Dame (918).<\/p>\n
“I’m thrilled with how we raced this weekend,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “We had a lot of good races and some top performances. I’m happy to see the progress we’re making with a few new records and some NCAA `B’ cuts, but we still have some of our best racing ahead of us.”<\/p>\n
The Hawkeyes entered the final race on Sunday — the 400 free relay — trailing Notre Dame by four and a half points. The quartet of sophomore Jackson Halsmer, juniors Jackson Allen and David Ernstsson, and senior Grant Betulius swam to a first-place finish touching in with a time of 2:55.44. With help from the University of Denver, it was enough to jump the fighting Irish on the leaderboard and claim the Hawkeye Invitational.<\/p>\n
“We knew where we stood coming into the final race and what needed to go our way,” said Long. “We needed some big races from all our guys and they went out there and got it done.”<\/p>\n
The Hawkeyes’ push for the postseason continued to inch closer as the men’s squad tallied six NCAA `B’ cut times. Three individuals — Betulius, senior Chris Freeman, and junior Andrew Parker — touched in with NCAA `B’ cut times in the 200 backstroke. Betulius led the field with a first-place finish and a time of 1:42.19. Parker (1:45.79) finished fourth, and Freeman took sixth place with a time of 1:46.11 in the finals, after claiming his season-best time in the prelims (1:45.57).<\/p>\n
Jerzy Twarowski had a strong showing in the 200 butterfly swimming to a first-place finish, an NCAA `B’ cut, and a school record-setting time of 1:44.00 — besting Rafal Szukala’s 1992 NCAA Championship time of 1:44.73.<\/p>\n
In the 1,650 free, freshman Chris Dawson swam to a third-place finish touching in with an NCAA `B’ cut time of 15:28.38.<\/p>\n
Junior Roman Trussov rounded out the `B’ cuts for the Hawkeyes on Sunday in the 200 breaststroke. Trussov swam to a runner-up time of 1:55.95.<\/p>\n
In the diving well, junior Addison Boschult set a new school record off the platform. The Omaha, Nebraska, native dove to a score of 394.35 in the prelims, and led the field in the finals diving to a first-place score of 388.35.<\/p>\n
“Addison did great tonight diving to a school record in the prelims,” said UI diving coach Todd Waikel. “I couldn’t be more proud of him as a coach; he looked great and performed really well for us.<\/p>\n