Jayhawks’ swimming ahead of Iowa State

Senior captain Joy Bunting won two events, and the Kansas University swimming and diving team led Iowa State, 116-34, after the first day of a two-day dual Friday at Robinson Natatorium.

The Jayhawks captured each of the first eight events Friday. The meet will conclude at 10 a.m. today at Robinson.

KU also celebrated its five seniors (Bunting, Iuliia Kuzhil, Amanda Maez, Alyssa Potter and Brittany Potter) with a pre-dual ceremony for Senior Day.

“I thought we did really well,” Kansas coach Clark Campbell said. “The meet is all about the seniors, so we had a lot of energy and emotion coming into the meet. We performed well, but we’re only halfway through it. This meet mimics a lot of what we’ll see in a couple of weeks at conference. It was a good evening session, but now the challenge is to have the same energy (today).”

Bunting, a senior from Greeley, Colo., placed first in the 50-yard breaststroke (29.95) and the 100-yard IM (59.12).

Other winners on Day One were sophomore Rebecca Swank, who won the 800-yard freestyle (8:05.74), freshman Morgan Sharp, who took first in the 150-yard freestyle (1:22.10), Kuzhil, who took the top spot in the 50-yard backstroke (26.52), and junior Stephanie Payne, who won the 150-yard butterfly (2:29.87).

On the diving side, sophomore Christy Cash placed first in the three-meter dive with a career-best score of 261.45.