NCAA Div. I: Indiana Sweeps Ohio State

COLUMBUS, OHIO, January 13. THE Buckeyes may be No. 1 on the gridiron but in the swimming pool they've still got a ways to go befroe reaching the top.

The Indiana Hoosiers of coaches Dorsey Tierney (women) and Ray Looze (men) took the measure of both comparable OSU teams in a Big 10 dual-meet at the Buckeyes' Mike Peppe Aquatic Center. The Hoosier women won, 150.5 – 84.5 while the men — under first-year coach Looze — triumphed by a 145 – 96 margin.

The challenging week of a winter training trip to Florida and the travel that accompanied the trip, did not seem to drastically affect Indiana's performance as both teams swam well.

On the women's side, IU junior Sarah Fiden and senior Kristy Martin had the fastest time in two events. Fiden was victorious in both the 200 yard freestyle (1:52.65) and 500 free (4:59.47) while Martin won the 200 fly (2:03.50). Although she did not officially win the 200 breast because she swam exhibition, she did record the fastest time (2:24.60).

Indiana's men's squad had three double winners in individual events as British import Richard Bryant was victorious in both the 500 (4:34.08) and 1650 freestyle (16:00.53), Sprinter Claes Andersson — a native of Boras, Sweden — won both his events by finishing first in the 50 (20.73) and 100 frees (45.93). Murph Halasz turned in a very difficult double, winning the 200 IM (1:53.43) and 200 fly (1:49.90).

In the women's meet at Ohio State, Indiana recorded the fastest time in 10 of 11 swimming events, with the exception of the 400 individual medley, which was won by Ohio State's Deanna Strunk. Her effort was boosted by the absence of Indiana junior Brooke Taflinger, who missed the meet to attend a funeral. Officially, Ohio State also won the 200 breaststroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay, as Indiana swam exhibition in both events.

"We had a good weekend," said Tierney. "We were missing a few swimmers today but I thought we performed well."

The Indiana women opened the meet in impressive fashion as Indiana finished first and second in the 400 medley relay. The team of sophomore Tammy Kostner senior Megan Geers, sophomore Erin Smith and junior Meghan Medendorp easily won the event in a time of 3:54.24.

In the second event of the meet for the women, two impressive IU freshmen tied for first place in the 1000 freestyle. Lauren Torpey and Doherty Colgin recorded identical times of 10:12.00, with Torpey overcoming a 1.27 second deficit over the final 50 yards to tie for first place.

"I think Lauren had a little bit too much left in her," quipped Tierney.

The Hoosiers swam exhibition in the final two events of the meet, although Martin recorded the fastest time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.60) and the 400-yard freestyle releay team of Kostner, Fraser, Colgin, and Medendorp easily recorded the fastest time, notching a 3:30.97. Ohio State officially won the event in 3:45.29.

On the men's side of the ledger, Indiana won seven of the 11 swimming events, including the 400-yard medley relay to begin the meet. The relay squad of junior Matt Leach, senior David Schulze, sophomore Murph Halasz and the anchor of junior Dale Ramsy won in 3:23.58. winning the race by more than two seconds. Indiana's second relay squad finished in third place.

After the relay win to begin the meet, Indiana sophomore Richard Bryant kept the Hoosiers in the lead as he narrowly outlasted Ohio State freshman Ryan Sciortino to win the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 16:00.53, winning by .60 seconds. Ohio State also finished third in the event and kept the meet close as freshman Marty Tomes won the 200 free in 1:41.77. Sophomore David Winck finished second, while Schulze raced to a third-place finish.

Indiana's women battle Big 10 foe Purdue West Lafayette in what should prove to be an excellent dual meet, while the men's squad faces off against a highly regarded Michigan squad at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington.

Tierney's women were runners-up at last season's Big 10s to Penn State in a very close finish and are hopeful of moving o\up a notch at thje championships next month. Rookie men's coach Looze would like to win the title but realiistically double-defending champ Minnesota or Michigan are the terams to beat.

If IU makes it into the Big 10's upper echelon he will have done a masterful job inasmuch as the Hoosiers were last last season.

*******************************************************

At the Speedo American Cup diving meet being held through Sunday at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, junior All-America Marc Carlton advanced to the quarterfinals but dropped his head-to-head match with University of Tennessee sophomore Phillip Jones, 431.10-362.91. For the women, Sara Hildebrand finished ninth in the 3-meter preliminaries, narrowly failing to join a group of eight divers that advanced to the quarterfinals.

At the Speedo American Cup diving meet being held through Sunday at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, junior All-America Marc Carlton advanced to the quarterfinals but dropped his head-to-head match with University of Tennessee sophomore Phillip Jones, 431.10-362.91. For the women, Sara Hildebrand finished ninth in the 3-meter preliminaries, narrowly failing to join a group of eight divers that advanced to the quarterfinals.

— Bill Bell

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