Indiana Leads After Day One of Michigan Invite

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, January 12. ON the strength of three event wins and a trio of additional top-three finishes, Indiana's women's swimming and diving team leads the Michigan Invitational after Jan. 12, the first day of competition.

The 13th-ranked Hoosiers amassed 405 points during the first session, with No. 19 Notre Dame right on their heels with 376. No. 10 Michigan put up 331 points, while Illinois is in fourth with 128.

Indiana bookended the first session with a pair of relay wins. Annica Lofstedt, Leila Vaziri, Presley Bard and Kristin Cihoski combined to turn in a time of 1:32.10 in the 200-yard freestyle relay, good enough for the event win and an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Bard, Sarah Stockwell, Lofstedt and Vaziri also picked up a victory in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:43.02, also an NCAA "B" cut.

On the individual side, senior Lindsay Weigle won the three-meter springboard with a score of 344.20, the eighth-best score in school history. Ashley Greene took sixth in the event with a score of 260.80, while freshman Britney Yancey posted her first NCAA Zone qualifying effort with an exhibition score of 279.45.

"Lindsay did a great job," assistant diving coach Todd Waikel said. "She really stepped up and she looked great. She did a god job and came out on top. I'm really proud of her."

Freshman Cassie Luhrsen picked up an NCAA "B" time with her third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 4:53.54. Bard was the Hoosiers' top finisher in the 200-yard individual medley, as she stopped the clock in 2:04.53 for third place. Fellow freshman Ashley Jones was fourth in 2:04.62, while Stockwell was fifth in 2:05.03.

Vaziri picked up a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 23.47. Lofstedt was fourth in the event in 23.63.

"We had a good first session," head coach Ray Looze said. "We had a lot of season-best times by numerous people, and we're pleased with how we started the meet. The most important session is tomorrow morning for us. That will pretty much decide who wins this competition. We're looking forward to that."

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