The UNI women’s swimming and diving team traveled to Ames on Saturday, Jan. 21, for a dual with Iowa State and West Virginia. This was the final dual of UNI’s season as it winds down. UNI fell to Iowa State 213.5-85.5 and to West Virginia 209-90. Despite this, UNI had some individuals perform well, including a couple of first place finishes.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Faith Larsen won first with a time of 23.66 seconds. Amber Finke picked up the Panthers’ other first-place win in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 2:01.63.

UNI also had some other good performances. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Finke, Larsen, Hallory Domnick and Natalia Verastegui finished in fourth place with a time of 3:32.56. The other UNI relay team, which had Larsen, Finke, Sydney Aird and Scout Bergwall, finished in third place in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:46.00.

In the 1000-yard freestyle, Olivia Chambers finished in fifth place with a time of 10:38.40. Domnick finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.07. Finke tied for third in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 56.59. Bergwall finished in fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.78.

In diving, Taylor Hogan had a career-high 270.70 points on the 1-meter boards to claim second place. This was also the sixth-highest score in UNI 1-meter diving history. Hogan finished fourth in the 3-meter competition with a score of 270.45. Maddie Moran had a new career high on the 1-meter boards with a score of 242.65.

As this season winds down, the UNI women’s swimming and diving team has two more invitationals left before the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championships. On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4, UNI has the Omaha Diving Invite in Omaha, Neb., and the Coyote Invite in Sioux Falls, S.D. The MVC Championships begin Feb. 15 and run through Feb. 18.