By Blake Dowson
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The Iowa men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams showed what they are capable of in their final home meet of the year on Feb. 5, sweeping every event against Western Illinois.
The men knocked off the Leathernecks in the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center a score of 147-71, while the women took the victory, 144-61.
The final dual meet of the regular season was meant to prepare the Hawkeyes for the championship season coming up, and it did just that, head coach Marc Long said.
“I think [we accomplished] what we needed to,” he said. “There’s still some work to do in the pool, but what this meet is about is to see us in a different format and get a chance to race. ”
The Hawkeye women smothered the Leathernecks early in the meet. A 1-2-3 finish in the 400-medley relay started the night for the women, followed by 1-2-3-4 finishes in the 200 freestyle, 100 individual medley, and 50 freestyle.
The Hawkeye women also posted 1-2-3-4 finishes in the 50 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 50 backstroke.
Sophomore Nikol Lagodzinska won two events for Iowa, the 100 and 200 freestyle. Junior Emma Sougstad, sophomore Summer Campbell, senior Allie Orvis, and senior Olivia Kabacinski all also posted individual wins.
The women also dominated on the boards, placing the top three finishers in the 1-meter, with freshman Jacintha Thomas being crowned champion in the event. Junior Lydia Lehnert won the 3-meter diving for Iowa.
The men experienced just as much success as the women against Western Illinois, winning all 12 events.
The “B” 400-medley relay team of redshirt freshman Kenneth Mende, senior Mike Nelson, and juniors Kyle Patnode and Jackson Halsmer opened the night with a win.
The Hawkeye men followed up the 1-2 finish in the opening relay with 1-2-3-4 finishes in the 200 freestyle, 100 individual, and 50 freestyle.
Mende, sophomores Jerzy Twarowski and Logan Samuelson, Halsmer, and seniors Tyler Nichols, Charles Holliday, David Ernstsson, and Roman Trussov all earned individual titles for the Hawkeyes.
Senior Brandis Heffner won the 3-meter dive for Iowa with a score of 341.45, while freshman Will Brenner claimed the top spot in the 1-meter with a score of 361.00.
“After this meet, we feel great,” Trussov said. “A lot of people showed great times tonight. Right now, we just want to make things more sharp [heading into championship season]. We’re going to start tapering a little now, and the workouts will be a little less intense.”
Unlike last year when they hosted numerous postseason meets, Iowa will travel to both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships in 2016.
That means the final home meet of the season meant the last time the Hawkeye seniors will compete at home, something they relished.
“When we first started doing our cheer that we always do with the men’s and women’s team, I actually got pretty emotional thinking that this would be the last time together as one team,” Orvis said. “There were definitely some waterworks.”
