Indiana At Hoosierland Invitational Day 2

Left Sidebar

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, November 16. VICTORIES in all seven races for Indiana highlighted day two of the Hoosierland Open at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

"The guys are doing a great job," said head coach Ray Looze. "They are coming together as a team and they are racing hard and supporting each other."

In the 200 medley relay, the team of Ben Hesen, Pat Penoyar, Todd Patrick and Matt Lenton took top honors with a time of 1:29.61. Doug Spraul, Ronald Hehn, A.J. Miller and Mark Wetzel combined for third (1:31.94).

With the Hoosiers swimming the 400 individual medley for the first time in competition this season, Ben Hesen was second in his preliminary heat with a time of 4:03.47. Aaron Opell was third (4:06.86). John Kevin Koehler won his heat with a time of 4:02.28. IU went 1-2 in the final heat of the morning with Alec Haley clocking 4:00.24 and Steven Murry coming home in 4:03.69. Five of the eight swimmers in the championship final were wearing IU caps as Haley, Koehler, Hesen, Murry and Opell all qualified.

In the evening final, Indiana captured the top two spots with Koehler first at 3:55.21, followed by Haley (3:56.71). Hesen was fifth (4:03.10) with Murry sixth (4:05.15) and Opell eighth (4:11.43). In the bonus final, Alex Brunfeldt was first with a time of 4:07.72. The consolation heat featured Brenden Butler (first-4:03.84), Kevin Happ (fourth-4:07.87) and Norm Ference (sixth-4:11.56).

In the 100-yard butterfly, Todd Patrick qualified first with a time of 50.38 and won the championship final in 48.82, while Lenton posted a fifth-place finish (50.11) and Doug Spraul touched in 50.62. A.J. Miller won the consolation heat in 50.53, while Tim Blue was seventh (52.28). The bonus final featured Mark Wetzel (second-52.80) and Christopher Head (third-53.31). Both were season bests.

The 200-yard freestyle saw Indiana qualify 1-2 in the championship final with Titus Knight leading the way at 1:41.47, followed by Koehler (1:41.70). In the evening race it was Koehler first (1:39.75) and Knight second (1:40.82). Cody Weik swam the consolation heat, finishing fifth (1:45.06). Ginocchio (1:44.69-second), Brunfeldt (1:47.05-seventh) and Spath (1:47.01-sixth) took to the water in the bonus heat. Spath's time was a season best.

Indiana captured the top three seeds in the 100 breast as Hesen posted the top time at 56.44. Penoyar and Hehn followed, with Patrick and Opell also qualifying for the race. Hehn was the championship final winner at 55.21, just 1/100th off an NCAA B cut and the top time by an IU swimmer this year. Hesen was second (55.59) and Penoyar fourth (56.83). Patrick was seventh (59.02) and Opell rounded out the field in eighth (1:01.25). Haley (58.83), Tyler Lemert (58.39), Justin Peterfish (59.30) and Macgregor Leo (57.98) participated in the consolation final. Miller was second (59.83) and Murry sixth (1:02.48) in the bonus final.

Spraul, Hesen and Cody Weik all qualified for the championship final in the 100 back. Hesen touched first in 50.41, with Spraul sixth (52.55) and Weik eighth (53.03). Ginocchio (57.70) and Spath (55.38) competed in the bonus final.

The evening concluded with the 800 freestyle relay, as Patrick, Knight, Koehler and Hesen made it a clean sweep with a winning time of 6:47.12. Diving results from the men's 1-meter springboard were unavailable.

Prior to tonight's championship finals, former Indiana University Chancellor Ken Gross Lewis was presented with the Marge Counsilman Service Award for his continued dedication to the IU swimming and diving program. The award, named after Marge Counsilman, the wife of legendary coach James `Doc' Counsilman and a long-time supporter of the swimming and diving programs, has been given out each year since 2005.

Lewis first got involved in swimming through his daughters, both of whom were age-group swimmers and attended James `Doc' Counsilman's camps. An athlete himself, Lewis' noon time workouts in the Assembly Hall weight room happened to coincide with the swim team's workouts.

"I got to know the swimmers not only as athletes, but also as students," Lewis said. "I started coming to meets and became a big fan of the program. It has been fun to watch the improvement of the squad over the last several years and I have enjoyed getting to know both the student-athletes and coaches."

The final day of the Hoosierland Invitational will get underway at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the championship heats scheduled for 5 p.m. Live results will be available at http://iu.iuhoosiers.com/swimmeet/hoosierland07

Special thanks to Indiana for contributing this report.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x