A day after two Hawkeye women’s swimmers earned national and conference awards from CollegeSwimming.com, the Big Ten showered the team with more accolades on Wednesday.

Junior Emma Sougstad, who was CollegeSwimming.com’s NCAA Division I Swimmer of the Week, took home the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors, the conference announced.

Sougstad broke several pool records against Iowa State, helping the Hawks to a 198-101 victory in Ames on Dec. 11.

Abbey Schneider was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week after she earned victories in the 500 and 1,000 freestyles against the Cyclones. Her time in the 1,000 (10:03.34) was the fifth-fastest in Hawkeye history.

 In the diving well, sophomore Morgan Rafferty was named the Big Ten’s Diver of the Week, her first career honor. Rafferty earned a victory in the 1-meter and was the runner-up in the 3-meter in Ames.

Head coach Marc Long praised their performances in the Hawks’ victory over the Cyclones.

 “I would like to congratulate these student-athletes,” he said in a release. “It is an outstanding and well-deserved recognition for their tremendous efforts last week against Iowa State.”

The win against ISU brings the team’s record to 4-2 (1-2 Big Ten). They’ll try to improve that when they take on Illinois at home on Jan. 16.
— by Jake Mosbach