University of Northern Iowa Athletics

Amber Finke and Faith Larsen finish in top three to end Kansas Classic
11/21/2021 8:53:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
CEDAR FALLS, IA - The Northern Iowa Swim and Dive concluded the Kansas Classic Sunday afternoon with Amber Finke placing third in the 100 and 200 Back and Faith Larsen placing first in the 50 Freestyle. Every Panther that raced this weekend recorded a new season or career best.Â
Abbie Bangs (12th, 17:36.41) and Sarah Walpole (14th, 17:43.57) finished within the top-15 performers in 1650 freestyle. With this race, Bang's recorded a new career best and Walpole tallied on a season best for the mile swim.Â
Finke started the preliminary races by securing first place in the 200 Back. She went on to take third place in the finals with a run of 1:58.13, just .02 seconds behind second place. Also in the 200 Back finals was Abby McCorkle (2:04.72), Helena Heuberger (2:06.98), and Payton Hall (2:05.76).Â
Freshman, Faith Larsen, found herself in the finals for the third day in a row. She competed in the 100 Freestyle and placed sixth in both the preliminary race and the final with a time of 51.39. Larsen PR'ed in each event she competed in this weekend and is now on the all-time top ten list for the 100 Freestyle (5th, 51.39), 50 Freestyle (3rd, 23.19), and 100 Butterfly (4th, 56.28).Â
The four other Panthers joining Larsen in the 100 freestyle final all recorded personal best times. Natalia Verastegui improved to 52.42 in the B-final. Bangs, Clare Christensen, and Walpole broke the 53-second barrier for the first time with a 52.52, 52.86, and 52.87 respectively.Â
Five Panthers raced in the 200 Breaststroke final, each also recorded a new season best time. Mia Savicevic (15th, 2:22.77), Ema Lavigne (18th, 2:22.30), Meghan Pallett (2:23.66), Sydney Stemper (2:24.57) and Rachel Studer (2:31.95) all represented UNI in the 200 Breast.Â
After Lily Ernst placed 7th in the 200 Butterfly prelim races, she placed sixth in the finals with a time of 2:04.39. Scout Bergwall recorded a personal best in the B-Final (2:06.88). In the C-final, Hallory Domnick, Rachelle Houlette, Caitlin Dassow, Sydney Hall represented the Panthers.
To conclude the three-day meet, the Panthers raced five relay teams in the 400 Free Relay. Finke, Verastegui, Bangs, and Larsen raced as UNI-A and finished in 7th place (3:27.36). UNI-C (15th, 3:32.96) and UNI-B (16th, 3:33.08) finished back-to-back and so did UNI-E (22nd, 3:36.83) and UNI-D (23rd, 3:37.04) relay teams. Â
Final Standings:Â
University of Kansas - 1191
Iowa State University - 786
Indiana State University - 431
University of North Texas - 389
University of Northern Iowa - 343
University of Arkansas at Little Rock - 325
NEXT UP:Â
The Swim and Dive team rejoin forces just in time for their next meet on December 17 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. and fans can follow along on the MeetMobile App.Â
Abbie Bangs (12th, 17:36.41) and Sarah Walpole (14th, 17:43.57) finished within the top-15 performers in 1650 freestyle. With this race, Bang's recorded a new career best and Walpole tallied on a season best for the mile swim.Â
Finke started the preliminary races by securing first place in the 200 Back. She went on to take third place in the finals with a run of 1:58.13, just .02 seconds behind second place. Also in the 200 Back finals was Abby McCorkle (2:04.72), Helena Heuberger (2:06.98), and Payton Hall (2:05.76).Â
Freshman, Faith Larsen, found herself in the finals for the third day in a row. She competed in the 100 Freestyle and placed sixth in both the preliminary race and the final with a time of 51.39. Larsen PR'ed in each event she competed in this weekend and is now on the all-time top ten list for the 100 Freestyle (5th, 51.39), 50 Freestyle (3rd, 23.19), and 100 Butterfly (4th, 56.28).Â
The four other Panthers joining Larsen in the 100 freestyle final all recorded personal best times. Natalia Verastegui improved to 52.42 in the B-final. Bangs, Clare Christensen, and Walpole broke the 53-second barrier for the first time with a 52.52, 52.86, and 52.87 respectively.Â
Five Panthers raced in the 200 Breaststroke final, each also recorded a new season best time. Mia Savicevic (15th, 2:22.77), Ema Lavigne (18th, 2:22.30), Meghan Pallett (2:23.66), Sydney Stemper (2:24.57) and Rachel Studer (2:31.95) all represented UNI in the 200 Breast.Â
After Lily Ernst placed 7th in the 200 Butterfly prelim races, she placed sixth in the finals with a time of 2:04.39. Scout Bergwall recorded a personal best in the B-Final (2:06.88). In the C-final, Hallory Domnick, Rachelle Houlette, Caitlin Dassow, Sydney Hall represented the Panthers.
To conclude the three-day meet, the Panthers raced five relay teams in the 400 Free Relay. Finke, Verastegui, Bangs, and Larsen raced as UNI-A and finished in 7th place (3:27.36). UNI-C (15th, 3:32.96) and UNI-B (16th, 3:33.08) finished back-to-back and so did UNI-E (22nd, 3:36.83) and UNI-D (23rd, 3:37.04) relay teams. Â
Final Standings:Â
University of Kansas - 1191
Iowa State University - 786
Indiana State University - 431
University of North Texas - 389
University of Northern Iowa - 343
University of Arkansas at Little Rock - 325
NEXT UP:Â
The Swim and Dive team rejoin forces just in time for their next meet on December 17 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. and fans can follow along on the MeetMobile App.Â
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