Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Big Ten Championships
Hoosiers Take Fourth at Big Ten Championships
2/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 18, 2007
Complete Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Indiana men's swimming and diving team turned in a fourth-place finish at the 2007 Big Ten Championships, finishing just one point out of third place. Ben Hesen and Nick Walkotten broke school records in the final day of the event.
Minnesota took home the team title with 612.5 points, while Michigan finished just behind at 608.5. Ohio State barely edged the Hoosiers with 495 points to IU's 494, while Northwestern took fifth with 470 points on the weekend. Purdue (375.5), Penn State (295), Wisconsin (245.5), Iowa (118) and Michigan State (106) rounded out the field.
Hesen set a school record in the 200-yard backstroke, posting a time of 1:42.94, good for third place at the event. It is the third school record of the weekend for the junior, who set the school record in the 100 back on Friday and then again on Saturday. The result gave Hesen his second NCAA "A" cut of the season, joining his time in the 100 back.
Walkotten broke his own school record in the 200-yard butterfly for the Hoosiers, speeding to a time of 1:43.85 and an "A" cut of his own. Walkotten set the pool record with his time in the prelims and then shaved nearly a second off that time for the finals, but was edged at the wall by Michigan's Alex Vanderkaay, who posted a time of 1:43.29.
Junior Pat Penoyar posted his best career time in the 200-yard breaststroke to take second place with a time of 1:56.75 for his first "A" cut of the season. Alex Brunfeldt added his best career time in the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing fourth with a time of 15:07.97, narrowly missing an "A" cut.
Todd Patrick had the Hoosiers' top finish in the 100-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 43.85 for eighth place. Freshman Matt Lenton was 16th in the event in a career-best time of 44.56. Both times were good for NCAA "B" cuts.
Indiana closed the meet with an eighth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Patrick, Lenton, Hesen and Walkotten teamed to post a time of 2:59.52 in the event.
"We tried to make a run," Indiana head coach Ray Looze said. "We just ran out of gas. I think it's almost better we got fourth because it's going to work for our favor in future motivation. This just doesn't sit well with our team, and it's almost a blessing in disguise. You get what you deserve, and that's what we got. The good news is, we've really got a motivating tool for the guys right now. They want to finish very highly at NCAAs, and we've some guys that can help us do that. I'm optimistic for NCAAs. I feel good about the future direction of our team."
Junior David Legler finished second in the platform, posting a career-best score of 377.20. Classmate Taylor Roberts was fifth with a score of 340.95, while sophomore Will Bohonyi was seventh with a 327.90 mark.
"We want to win," Indiana diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber said. "We're already getting ready for next year. All four of the divers come back next year. We basically just missed winning two of the three events, and I think next year we can come back and win them all. David Legler did a great job. He's a kid that walked on and basically started diving platform two years ago. He's a really hard worker and did a really great job."
The Hoosiers will host their Last Chance Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m.
All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
Matt Alexandrov, Northwestern
Sal Barba, Michigan
Bruno Barbic, Northwestern
Kyle Bubolz, Northwestern
Igor Cerensek, Minnesota
Mario Delac, Minnesota
Matt Grevers, Northwestern
Kellen Harkness, Ohio State
Ben Hesen, Indiana
Eric Nilsson, Northwestern
Matt Patton, Michigan
Bobby Savulich, Michigan
Tyler Schmidt, Minnesota
Berkley Showe, Ohio State
Alex Vanderkaay, Michigan
Wes Weiser, Ohio State
Mike Woodson, Minnesota
Second Team
Evan Bernier, Minnesota
Joe Doyle, Ohio State
Mike Holmes, Minnesota
Ryan Jefferson, Ohio State
Nate King, Ohio State
David Legler, Indiana
Matt Lenton, Indiana
Romain Maire, Purdue
Todd Patrick, Indiana
Pat Penoyar, Indiana
Taylor Roberts, Indiana
Patrick Schirk, Penn State
Ales Volcansek, Minnesota
Nick Walkotten, Indiana
Players Mentioned
