University of Northern Iowa
Iowa State
UNI swim & dive drops senior day dual to Iowa State
1/13/2024 6:27:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA — UNI swimming and diving notched season-best results with seven first-place finishes, but came up short on senior day in a 162-138 dual loss to the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday afternoon at the Glen F. Henry Pool.
Prior to the meet, the Panthers honored their senior class of Scout Bergwall, Clare Christensen, Amber Finke, Sydney Hall and Taylor Short. UNl also honored former teammate Lily Ernst, who passed away in July 2022.
Opening the day on the springboards, Erica Peters took home second place overall with a 264.45, a season best, and just 0.55 points shy of qualifying for the NCAA Diving Zones. Trista Thompson followed behind with her seasonbest of 258.15, notching fifth-place in the event. On the three-meter boards, Peters once again led the way for the Panthers, taking fourth overall with a 262.73. Avery Hogan (259.80) and Hannah Taylor (251.55) took fifth and sixth-place respectively, with Taylor scoring a season-best in the event.
In the swimming competition, UNI led off the meet in the 200-yard medley relay with Finke, Sydney Aird, Bergwall and Faith Larsen clinching second-place after a time of 1:45.97. Olivia Chambers followed up with a third-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:48.73.
Morgan Meyer claimed the first victory of the day for the purple and gold with a 1:53.47 in the 200-yard freestyle. Finke kept the winning streak rolling for the Panthers, earning first-place in the 100-yard backstroke in 56.40. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Aird took second-place with a time of 1:06.40, with Ema Lavigne right behind in third (1:07.44). Bergwall clinched third-place in the 200-yard butterfly with a 2:10.40 finish.
Reigning MVC 50-yard freestyle champion Faith Larsen once again took home first-place in the event, clocking a 23.64-second time. UNI swept the podium with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard freestyle, with Lear taking home the gold (52.81), followed by Larsen just 0.14 seconds behind (52.95) and Meyer just 0.07 seconds behind Larsen (53.02). Finke meanwhile claimed another first-place finish with a 2:02.20 in the 200-yard backstroke.
Aird made it five straight event victories for the Panthers in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.46). Bergwall finished second overall in the 100-yard butterfly (57.82), while Finke clinched the final individual win of the night for Northern Iowa, with a 2:07.77 in the 200-yard individual medley.
UNI ended the meet strong, as Lear, Meyer, and Larsen joined forces with Clare Christensen for an impressive first place finish in the 200-yard free relay, ending in just 1:35.17.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the pool next Friday and Saturday, January 19-20 for a two-day dual at Illinois State. Friday's competition will begin at 5 p.m. CT. Saturday's competition will start at 11 a.m. at Illinois State's Horton Pool.
Players Mentioned
