By Blake Dowson
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The Hawkeye swimmers headed to South Bend, Indiana, this past weekend to take on a number of teams in the Shamrock Invitational, and both the men and women’s teams returned home with dual victories.
The Iowa women picked up wins against Illinois State (302-67) and Grand Canyon (202-167), while dropping their dual with No. 37 Notre Dame (258-111). The Hawkeye women’s 2-1 record on the weekend moves their overall record to 7-4 on the season.
Junior Emma Sougstad picked up a victory in the 200 individual medley on Jan. 29 with a time of 2:02.91.
Sougstad, senior Olivia Kabacinski, sophomore Nikol Lagodzinska, and junior Taylor Flummerfelt teamed up to earn the Hawkeyes a runner-up finish in the 200-free relay.
Sougstad was also involved in the 400-medley relay team, along with sophomores Rowan Hauber, Tereysa Lehnertz, and Lagodzinska. The quartet finished in third with a time of 3:47.07.
Iowa started the Saturday session of the Shamrock Invitational placing four relay teams in the top five of the 200-medley relay. The team of Sougstad, Lehnertz, Kabacinski, and senior Allie Orvis paced the Hawks, finishing second in 1:43.41.
Sougstad finished her dominant individual weekend by owning the breaststroke events, picking up victories in the 100 and 200 breast.
Freshman Abbey Schneider claimed the Hawkeye’s other individual win on the day, a victory in the 1,650 freestyle in 17:11.19.
Iowa finished out the weekend with two individual third-place finishes and two relay third-place finishes.
Schneider placed third in the 400 individual medley, and senior Serena Wanasek was third in the 200 free.
The team of Wanasek, Kabacinski, Lagodzinska, and sophomore Carly O’Brien was third in the 800-free relay, and the group of Lagodzinska, Sougstad, O’Brien, and Flummerfelt was third in the 400-free relay.
The Iowa men also picked up a pair of dual wins against Missouri State (243-121) and No. 40 Notre Dame (220-150), while falling to No. 34 Grand Canyon (202-168).
Iowa finished second in the 200-medley relay, with the team of seniors Roman Trussov and Jackson Allen and freshmen Kenneth Mende and Jack Smith. The quartet finished in 1:28.56.
Freshman Will Brenner picked up another win in the diving well, finishing as the champion in the 1-meter competition with a score of 327.10. Seniors Addison Boschult and Brandis Heffner were right behind Brenner in second and third, respectively.
The Hawkeyes also received a first-place finish from Trussov in the 100 breaststroke.
Iowa finished as runners-up in a multitude of events. Trussov was runner-up in the 200 breast, Mende was second in the 100 backstroke, senior Luke Snow was second in the 200 free, and sophomore Jerzy Twarowski placed second in the 200 butterfly.
The 800-freestyle relay of Snow, Allen, Smith, and freshman Matt Kamin finished second in a time of 6:39.74.
Sophomore Chris Dawson, Mende, Twarowski, and the 400-freestyle relay all picked up third-place finishes for the Hawkeyes as well.
The successful weekend for the Hawkeyes moves their overall record to 5-3, with their final tune-up before championship season coming Friday against Western Illinois in the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.
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