CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- The Iowa State swimming and diving team faced a tough challenge Saturday at the ARC Pool in Champaign. The Cyclones were only able to obtain six wins in the 16 events as they fell to Illinois 173-122.
The Cyclones were led once again by the senior duo of Nan Liu and Abby Glaser. Liu led off for the winning 200 medley team and also swept the 100 and 200 backstroke. Glaser was also on the winning medley relay team, out touched Liu by .03 seconds to win the 100 butterfly and swam the second leg for the winning 400 free relay team.
“Nan swam really tough today,” Iowa State head coach Duane Sorenson said. “It was the first time in a year and a half that she had been put under real pressure to perform. Abby wanted to perform well in her home state and she did, beating out Nan and posting a good 50 free time.”
Freshman Dani Harris stepped up for the Cyclones as well on Saturday. Harris swam the breaststroke leg for the winning 200 medley relay team and also collected a victory in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.79. Harris moved up another two spots to 13th on the all-time 200 IM list after posting the 15th-fastest time on Friday. Harris also finished second in the 100 breaststroke.
“She really is a great competitor,” Sorenson said. “We have been asking her to do some different things and she has done them to the letter. If she would have had another yard in the 100 breast, she probably would have won and she had a great in-season time in the 200 IM.”
It was a tough day on the boards for the Cyclone divers as they were unable to obtain either of the top-two spots on 1-meter and 3-meter. Tien Tran finished third on both boards with Abby Christensen fourth.
“We were not on today,” said diving coach Jeff Warrick. “Hats off to the Illinois' divers they were great. We just missed a few dives and sometimes missing by a little means a lot.”
Sarah Nelson posted the best score of her career on 3-meter with a 241.58.
“She crushed her high-score,” said Warrick. “I know she has more in her. It was a good meet for her.”
The Cyclones head for South Dakota next weekend. ISU faces the South Dakota Coyotes Friday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. The next day, the squad heads to Brookings for a dual meet against South Dakota State at 1 p.m.
