The Hawkeye Invite was as close as it could be on the men’s side with the Hawkeye’s claiming a 0.5 point victory over the hard charging Fighting Irish on the last day of competition.
Facing a 7.5 point deficit heading into the 400 free relay, the Hawkeyes needed a victory and the Irish to finish of third or worse to claim a meet victory by the smallest possible margin.
The scene played as scripted as the Hawkeyes delivered in a big way, and got help from Denver, on their way to victory.
Jackson Halsmer, who continued his strong performance during the invite, led off with a 44:28, putting Iowa in second place behind Denver’s Ray Borman, who led off in 43.79. Notre Dame’s Justin Plaschka led off in 45.02.
Jackson Allen stepped up next for the Hawkeyes with a 43.86, to put them in the lead at 1:28.14, with Denver’s Willy Van Dehy putting up a 44.50 to keep in second at 1:38.29. Notre Dame’s A relay would disqualify, but Zach Stephens did split a 43.81 on his second leg.
With Notre Dame false starting, It became a two horse race between Denver’s A relay and Iowa’s A relay, as the Hawkeyes still need a victory
David Ernstsson, split 44:41 for Iowa while Luke Williams split a 44:30 for the Pioneers as the margin became just .04 seconds. Iowa led 2:12.55 to Denver’s 2:12.59.
For a while it looked as though the Pioneers would play heartbreaker for the home team, but Iowa’s Grant Betulius, who swam lights out all weekend, swam a monster 42.89 anchor leg, after already putting a 100 and 200 backstroke on his legs, including a 20.13 first 50, erasing any doubt the Hawkeyes would lose. Denver’s Tim Cottam split a 45.23.
Iowa touched at 2:55.44, followed by Denver at 2:57.82. Iowa’s B relay of Jerzy Twarowski, Roman Trussov, Chuck Holliday, and Brandon Farnum finished third in 3:01.56.
Final men’s score:
- Iowa: 918.5
- Notre Dame: 918
- Denver: 855.5
- Wisconsin Milwaukee: 262
- Ohio State: 158
The women’s 400 free relay was not nearly as exciting and did not have the implications the men’s relay did, although Denver did set a meet record.
Olivia Kabacinski of Iowa and Sam Corea of Denver battled through the first 100, with Corea edging out Kabacinski 49.90 to 49.91, but it was all Denver afterward, as Johanna Roas (49.40) overwhelmed Iowa’s Carly O’Brien (51.37) on the second leg.
Zoe Huddleston (50.39) and Drew Matthew (49.96) rounded out the 3:19.65 effort for Denver’s meet record.
Nikole Lagodzinska (50.51) and Emma Sougstad (50.25) brought home Iowa’s relay in 3:22.04.
Washington State’s A relay of Allison Mand, Nicole Proulx, Rachel Thompson, and Natalie Bruggman finished third in 3:23.29.
Final women’s team scores:
- Iowa: 1015.5
- Denver: 793
- Washington State: 628.5
- Wisconsin Milwaukee: 390
- Notre Dame: 155
- Nebraska: 71
- Iowa State: 40
Becky Stoughton won the women’s mile by a big margin. The Hawkeye senior touched in 16:21.97, good for an NCAA B cut, and almost a 13 second victory over the rest of the field. She dominated the swim, finishing first without a single split over 30.4
Tyra Rooney and Maddie Myers of Denver were second and third in 16:34.80 and 16:44.85.
Dylan Bunch, the Summit League Conference record holder in the Mile, just missed out on breaking the 15:00 minute mark and his conference record of 14:59.58, finishing first in 15:00.87.
Bunch Lapped his teammate, Jeremiah Zgliczynski, who was second in 15.25.50. Iowa freshman Chris Dawson was third in 15:28.38.
Corea got another win and set a pool record in the women’s 200 backstroke with her 1:52.68. She won by a 6.90 second margin and dropped almost six seconds from her prelim time of 1:58.14. Loree Olson of Washington State was second in 1:59.58.
Iowa’s Rowan Hauber broke the 2:00 minute barrier with her third place finish of 1:59.68. Shay Schaedler was fourth for Washington State in 1:59.99.
Betulius was dominant all weekend, and dominated again in the men’s 200 backstroke in 1:42.19, a B cut.
Anton Locar was not a close second, touching in 1:44.82, also a B cut. Locar’s Denver teammate finished third in 1:44.82.
Kabacinski was dominant as well for the Hawkeyes, and notched another win, this time in the women’s 100 freestyle, on Sunday. She touched at 49.61 for Iowa.
Roas was second with a 49.89. They were the only two swimmers under 50 seconds. Matthews was 50.09 for Denver for third.
Bornman took the men’s 100 free handily for Denver in 43.91, a B cut. Bornman was behind by .01 to Halsmer at the 50, but pulled away over the next 50 for the win. Halsmer finished second in 44.58. Allen was 44.83 for Iowa for third.
Sougstad won her second breaststroke event in as many days with a 2:12.40 performance in the 200 breaststroke. She was seeded fourth after prelims.
Colleen Champa finished second for the Hawkeyes with a 2:12.71. Amanda Sanders was third in 2:12.94 for Denver.
Notre Dame began their charge on Iowa’s lead in the 200 breaststroke A final. Zach Stephens of Notre Dame took down the top seeded Roman Trussov 1:55.49 to 1:55.95, both swimmers hit NCAA B cuts, and were the only swimmers under two minutes.
Cottam placed third for Denver with a 2:00.08. Notre Dame place Pat Olson in fifth, Cameron Miller in sixth, and Andrew Jensen in eighth for a big points boost.
Grace Sommerville swam a 2:00.97 for the win in the women’s 200 fly for Denver. Washington State scored second and third place places from Kendra Griffin in 2:02.31 and Elise Locke in 2:02.67.
Twarowski won the men’s 200 fly for the Hawkeyes in a gutsy swim against Notre Dame’s Williamson. Twarowski was 1:44.00 after going out in 49.35. Williamson was 50.14 opening up, but closed on Twarowski over the next 100. He did not have enough in the tank to reel in Twarowski and finished in 1:44.18.
Andrew Torres took third for Denver in 1:44.37.
Day three pdf results are available here.