Abby Storm Victorious in 100 Back on Day Two at Hawkeye Invite
San Diego State’s Abby Storm captured the event title in the 100 backstroke on Friday to lead the Aztec swim and dive program at the Hawkeye Invitational during the second day of competition in Iowa City, Iowa.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – San Diego State’s Abby Storm captured the event title in the 100 backstroke on Friday to lead the Aztec swim and dive program at the Hawkeye Invitational during the second day of competition at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
Storm completed the “A” final race with a collegiate-best swim of 52.32, which ranks third on the program’s all-time charts. With her effort, the Aztec junior surpassed an NCAA “B” cut time as well.
SDSU received an additional pair of NCAA “B” cut performances from Moa Bergdahl (1:00.24) and Christiana Williams (1:00.69), who placed second and fourth in the “A” finals of the 100 breaststroke, respectively.
As a team, the Aztecs maintained their third-place status, compiling 792 points through 14 events. Front runners Nebraska (908 pts) and Arkansas (805.5 pts) occupy the top two spots, followed by SDSU, Illinois (682.5 pts) and host Iowa (632 pts), while Kansas (547 pts), Colorado State (431 pts), Iowa State (333 pts) and Northern Iowa (305 pts) round out the list of competing squads.
Storm and Bergdahl also swam the first two segments of the Aztecs’ 200 medley relay that finished third with a time of 1:39.71, while the foursome of Mai McKenna, Williams, Emily Tenczar and Kaydence Bispo took sixth with a clocking of 1:40.42, although their result was scored as an exhibition.
Alli Mann was the lone SDSU swimmer to advance to the “A” finals of the 100 butterfly, where she touched the wall in fourth place at 54.18, while Storm was sixth in the “B” finals with a swim of 55.31. In addition, Tenczar contributed to the Aztecs’ point-total in the event after winning the “C” finals with a career-fast time of 54.63.
Shortly thereafter, McKenna (4.17.05) and Reka Nyiradi (4:17.33) finished sixth and seventh in the “A” finals of the 400 individual medley, as each swimmer recorded a career best, with the two performances ranking seventh and eighth on the program’s all-time charts, respectively. The Scarlet and Black also received a third-place effort in the “B” final of the event from Grace Mering, who clocked in at 4:19.53.
As the meet progressed, Wilma Johansson logged a third-place swim of 1:48.36 in the “A” finals of the 200 freestyle, while Mann was triumphant in the “B” finals with a time of 1:49.26, followed by Bispo (1:50.20) and Smithbaker (1:51.41), who took fifth and eighth, respectively.
Along with Storm’s victory in the 100 back, the Aztecs advanced two other swimmers to the “A” finals, including Liv Peebles, who touched the wall in fifth place at 54.68, while Alex Downing was eighth at 56.51.
SDSU wrapped up Friday’s swimming events with a fifth-place effort in the 800 freestyle relay, as the quartet of Nyiradi, Bispo, Johansson and Mann joined forces on a clocking of 7:21.86.
Elsewhere, the Aztecs advanced one diver to the “A” finals of the 3-meter springboard, where Alina Skrocki finished seventh with a score of 286.10 points, while Valentina Lopez Arevalo took home the crown in the “B” finals after amassing 312.30 points. Both marks surpassed NCAA zone qualifying standards.
The Hawkeye Invitational concludes on Saturday with preliminary events beginning at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT, while finals are slated to underway once again at 5 p.m. PT/3 p.m. PT. Divers will also compete from the platform height, starting at 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT.