Lincoln? A spirited effort Friday night at the Devaney Natatorium moved the Nebraska swimming and diving team into first place after Session 3 of the Husker Invitational.
Trailing Colorado State and Iowa State after two finals events Thursday night, the Huskers took advantage of 14 qualifiers in three A Finals on Friday night to take a strong 638.5-591 lead over the Rams with four sessions remaining.
Nebraska took the overall lead when sophomore Hailey Dean and junior Christina Yemm finished a close first (2:09.03) and second (2:09.74) in the 200-yard individual medley. The duo was just two of five Huskers in the A final, as sophomores Kaitlin Arntz (6th, 2:10.92) and Mariah Hutchinson (8th, 2:11.76) and freshman Claire Desormey (10th, 2:12.08) also finished in the top 10.
Hutchinson was just minutes removed from a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:01.72), an event that Nebraska freshman Julie Giehl won in 5:00.24.
Senior Lynn Siemert sprinted to a victory in the 50-yard freestyle (24.15), ahead of freshman Jessica Andrews (2nd, 24.43) and sophomore Jenna Stroud (3rd, 24.57) after beginning the meet by leading off NU’s winning 200-yard freestyle relay (1:35.62) team, along with Andrews, Stroud and junior Jenny Toler. Stroud ended the night by anchoring the Huskers’ first-place 400-yard medley relay (3:54.11) that included Dean, sophomore Kelsey Ida and freshman Kelsey Grushecky.
Prior to the concluding 400-yard medley relay win, the Husker divers continued Nebraska’s dominance when junior Courtney Jolly won the one meter with a score of 259.70. Friday also saw the first appearance from Husker freshman Audrey Kruse, who finished 12th overall (149.40) to give Nebraska four competitors in the event.
The Husker Invitational will resume Saturday with preliminary races at 9 a.m. Finals will start at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s Events
200-yard Medley Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Three-meter Diving
800-yard Freestyle Relay