Cyclones Edge Jayhawks in Final Dual Meet of Season, 158-142

Feb. 4, 2012

KU/ISU Day #2 / Complete Results / 3 Meter Diving Prelims

AMES, Iowa – The Kansas swimming and diving team came up just short Saturday in Ames as they fell to IowaState 158-142, in the teams’ final dual meet of the regular season. With the loss KU finished 2011-12 with a 5-5 record and a 0-2 mark in conference action.

The second day of competition began much like the first, with Iowa State claiming the opening event (50 free), and Kansas winning the next, thanks to junior Brooke Brull’s 1:31.25 time and first place finish the 150 back.

Senior Shannon Garlie would chip in with a first place finish of her own, just two events later, as she was the fastest swimmer in the 400 free (358.90). Morgan Sharp and Malia Johnson made it a one, two, three sweep in the event as they finished with 4:00.12 and 4:00.81 times respectively.

The score between the two Big 12 schools would become even closer as KU would capture its second event in three tries. That’s when sophomore newcomer Sophiia Filatova continued to impress during her first meet at Kansas. The St. Petersburg, Russia product earned her second top time in two days with her 25.52 performance and first place finish in the 50 fly. Teammate Deanna Marks’ 26.10 time landed her in third and Kansas had closed the gap on IowaState to just five points at 125-120, heading into the diving break.

During three meter competition Junior Christy Cash earned a third place finish with her 285.97 score, while sophomore Alyssa Golden’s 241.65 score put her in fifth. The duo gave their team four points, which made it 140-124 IowaState. Cash’s score in the three-meter bested her previous NCAA Zone qualifying mark, which she achieved earlier in the year. Saturday marked the second straight day the junior from Lenexa, Kan., would surpass her previous Zone score.

After diving action wrapped up, Senior Stephanie Payne would come through in the clutch during the meet’s second to last event. The Olympic Trials qualifier would finish in first place by nearly four and a half seconds in the 300 IM, with her 3:16.69 time. Payne’s performance made the score Iowa State 147, Kansas 136 as the 200 free relay loomed. Kansas would claim second, third and fourth place in the relay, but the six points put up on the board, were not enough as the Cyclones swam away with the 16-point victory.

Other Jayhawks with notable performances on Saturday included junior Svetlana Golovchun, who earned a second place finish in the 50 free (24.46), and helped her 200 relay team finish second. Fellow junior Brittany Rospierski claimed second in the 150 yard breaststroke (1:44.05), netting her team four crucial points in the day’s first event.

Now finished with the regular season, Kansas looks ahead to the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo., which will take place Feb. 22-25 at the MizzouAquaticCenter.

Post Meet Quotes

KU Head Coach Clark Campbell
On the close defeat…
“It was a tough weekend. We were not as sharp as we needed to be but that is what happens when you come in and you are not ready to go. Any given day a team can be on or off and we were flat in a couple areas. We had some people do nice jobs but we just were not where we needed to be, to win the meet.”

On IowaState’s performance…
“They swam very well and dove very well, so they looked sharp. They definitely came here to race and dive well, and they more than deserved the victory.”

On sophomore newcomer Sophiia Filatova’s breakout weekend…
“I am very happy with her. She does some things really well, which is exciting. It was definitely one of the high points of the weekend.”

On senior Stephanie Payne’s performance in the 300 IM…
“That was a really good race for her. She has been kind of up and down lately and put together a really good IM. She did it the way we wanted to, which is important and she is back to where she needs to be going into conference.”

On preparation for the Big 12 Championships in two weeks…
“We just need to stay on track and keep doing what we have been doing. This is just one meet and the dual meet record has no bearing on our championship performance. I hope the team is a little disappointed and I’m sure they are, but with disappointment you can either be bitter or better. Hopefully we can use this to be better in a couple of weeks.”

Diving Coach Eric Elliott
On junior Christy Cash’s performance…
“She dove a whole lot better in finals for both events and was second in one meter. She improved her score 30 points in one-meter, which is a lot but she is starting to get where she is stepping it up when it counts.”

On sophomore Alyssa Golden’s performance…
“She dove better overall in the three-meter finals even though her score wasn’t was high. With all the big, new hard dives, she did a whole lot better.”