Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Faces Penn State, Michigan State
1/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
January 23, 2001
Indiana Faces Penn State, Michigan State
Meet Data
Indiana travels to University Park, Pa., for a double dual meet against Penn State and Michigan State. The meet takes place January 26 and 27 at McCoy Natatorium.
Inside the Spartan Series
Michigan State comes into this meet having just lost to Purdue. MSU finished 11th in the conference and falling to both Penn State and Indiana, 191-180 last year, the Spartans will be looking for some wins.
Inside the Nittany Lion Series
No. 15 Penn State is also looking to build on its successful season. The Lions placed fourth at the 2000 Big Ten championships. Last year, the Hoosiers fell to Penn State 221-147 in the dual meet.
Head Swimming Coach Dorsey Tierney
Dorsey Tierney begins her third year as head coach of the Indiana women’s swim team. She is a gold medalist in 200-meter breaststroke in the 1987 Pan-American games and was a captain on the 1991 team. Tierney was also a finalist in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials.
Head Diving Coach Dr. Jeff Huber
Head Coach Dr. Jeff Huber returns as a six-time Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year and two time U.S. National Diving Coach of the Year. He coached Indiana diver Sara Reiling to a 13th place finish in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Quoting Huber
“It will be a tough weekend for us. It will be a good test for us. We didn’t really dive all that well against Purdue so I’ll challenge our kids to step up and dive at a higher level. I’m interested to see how we’re going to do and how we’re going to react.”
Let the Records Fall
Two days before Indiana faced archrival Purdue, Megan Geers commented on the status of the record books. “I think everybody needs to concentrate on doing their personal best and the records will just come with that.”
Susan Woessner broke three records in her 100 back against Purdue. She touched the wall in 55.60, a personal best which broke her own school record of 55.80 set at Big Ten championships last year. This also sets a new Lambert Pool record, previously held by Nicole Dreesen of Northwestern.
Big Ten Honors for Woessner
Susan Woessner was honored as co-Big Ten swimmer of the week after her record setting performance at Purude January 20. She swam the 100 back in 55.60 to break her own school record and set a new Lambert Pool record. Woessner shares the award with Katy Christoferson of Minnesota.
The Total Team Effort
In Indiana’s win over Purdue, the Hoosiers set 19 season best times, most significantly Susan Woessner’s 100 back in 55.60 to break her own school record. Kristy Martin and Meghan Rice led the team with three season bests each.
Priorities in Place
Indiana is on pace to repeat as one of the nation’s best teams devoted to the true student-athlete. The Hoosiers finished the fall semester with a perfect 4-0 record, the Indiana Invite title, and a 3.48 GPA.
Last year, only IU and SMU placed in the top 25 in both athletic competition and GPA.
Following the Polls
Indiana moved into 19th, its highest CSCAA rank in the Tierney era. The Hoosiers own wins over No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 23 Northwestern, and No. 24 Kentucky.
Other Big Ten schools in the top 25 are No. 13 Wisconsin, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Penn State, and No. 20 Minnesota.
Upsetting Purdue
The t-shirts read, "Lambert’s Last Hurrah", but it was Indiana that put up the last cheer in a 159-141 defeat over Purdue. In the last dual meet swam in 61-year old Lambert pool, Indiana clinched the victory in the second to last event. In the 200 IM, Tina Gretlund and Kristy Martin combined for 13 points taking first and second places to assure the win. The score see-sawed through the first five events until Gretlund, Martin, and Jenny Bechem claimed first, third, and fourth in the 200 fly to take back the lead by two points. The Hoosiers never relinquished the lead and spread it out to 26 following a one-two finish in the 500 free by Sarah Fiden and Erin Rice. Fiden and Rice also took the top two places in the 1000 free.
"We all knew what the atmosphere was going to be coming here. The team all stepped up together," said Martin.
Immediately following the pivotal 200 fly, Jenn Cristy won the 50 free to keep the momentum going. Cristy also threw in a pair of second place finishes in the 100 and 200 free. Susan Woessner dominated the backstrokes winning the 100 in 55.66 and the 200 in 2:03.82. Her 100 back sets a new school and Lambert pool record.
Indiana divers took to the water Friday to outscore the Boilermakers 20-18. Points came from Cassandra Cardinell with a second place finish on the 1-meter board, and Erin Quinn with a first place finish on the three meter board.
"Our depth carried us today," said head coach Dorsey Tierney. Every weekend we find somebody different to step up. Today it was Kristy Martin. She’s really doing a great job."
Both relay teams struggled and finished second, but positives were to be seen in each case. "After that first relay (200 medley) we were all real nervous," said Martin. Fiden and Rice’s first double followed, and Indiana was back in the lead. The 400 free threw another new line-up together and finished strong. Tierney is anxious to see Woessner, who anchored, take on that role more often.
"Susan races with confidence but with patience," said Tierney.
Big Ten Honors for Quinn
Erin Quinn was named Big Ten diver of the week on January 9th. The award followed her one-meter win in the collegiate division and her first place finish in the three-meter dive-off at the Indiana Dive-off.
Back Home Again in Indiana
Junior Sara Reiling will red shirt the remainder of the year. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in Sydney in the fall.
Top Times
With Big Ten championships right around the corner, it’s time to start looking at NCAA qualifying times. Sarah Fiden’s 1650 free in 16:49.62, Susan Woessner’s 100 back in 55.60, and Tina Gretlund’s 200 fly in 2:02.93 are provisional times.
IU Relays
Indiana’s relay teams are 13-3 this season, with the losses going to Kentucky in the 400 medley and Purdue in the 200 medley and 400 free. Almost every team has consisted of a different mix of swimmers.
Beating the Buckeyes
The January 13th win over Ohio State keeps Indiana women's swimming and diving undefeated heading into West Lafayette this week. Indiana won nine events en route to their 154-89 victory. Their dominance showed most clearly in the final event where the Hoosiers captured first and second places in the 400 free relay. Tina Gretlund, Susan Woessner, Meghan Rice, and Sarah Bowman finished in 3:33.50, almost six seconds ahead of the first Ohio State team. The second IU team swam a 3:37.91. The 400-medley relay also collected on a first place finish. Woessner, Megan Geers, Gretlund, and Anne Williams clocked in at 3:52.93.
Indiana spread the wealth as six swimmers won another six events. Distance queen Sarah Fiden shortened her course taking home the 200 free win (1:54.40). Erin Rice took care of the distance events in winning the 1000 free in 10:23.29. Gretlund beat out Ohio State power Kristen Sendrowski in the 200 fly. Gretlund swam a 2:03.25 to win by a tenth of a second.
Anne Williams, Colleen McCracken, and Megan Geers won the final three individual events. Williams finished the 100 free in 52.83, McCracken the 200 back in 2:04.36, and Geers the 200 breast in 2:25.27. Erin Quinn reaffirmed her Big Ten diver of the week naming by winning the three-meter dive and taking third on the one-meter board.
Big Ten Honors for Cristy
Six first place finishes and two runner-up finishes led to Indiana senior Jenn Cristy’s naming of co-Big Ten Swimmer of the Week. Cristy won the 100 and 200 free, anchored the winning 200 and 400 free relays, and swam the free legs on the victorious 200 and 400 medley relays at the Indiana Invite November 17-19. She set season bests in the 50, 100, and 200 free, in 23.63, 50.88, and 1:51.43, respectively.
Cristy posted the fastest preliminary time in the 50 free and finished second in finals. She also took second in the 100 breast, after not having competed in the event since her freshman year.
Indiana Springboard Dive-off
Ohio State brought what Indiana has not seen much of this season - competition. Between Natalia Diea and Holly Jo Underwood, Erin Quinn faced two competitive divers that left her with a second place showing in the collegiate round and in third place in the open round.
"The dives weren't as good as we had expected them to be. We were tired from training and not expected to dive at our best," said Quinn.
Training the past two weeks essentially has included three practices a day. Quinn finished the three-meter prelims in first place in the collegiate division. Her 11 final dives brought her 470.55 points, 4.3 short of Underwood. In the open round, Quinn fell to Underwood by just 2.15 points with 400.55, but was well behind Diea, who won the round with 442.05.
Quinn proceeded to win the three-meter Indiana Dive-Off over unattached Melanie Johnson. Quinn totaled 430.45 points to Johnson's 418.40. The finalists tallied their scores at the sixth dive, and proceeded to drop the lowest cumulative score. Quinn scored a 6.5, 6, and 6.5 on her final dive to win the event. Mamie Goodson was the next Indiana finalist at fourth. Cincinnati's Cassie Kellerman took third.
Diving coach Jeff Huber said that anybody who got through the meet did well. "We set this up for a lot of diving, a lot of competition. These divers are beat. That's the most diving they'll ever do in one day at any place. They did a great job, I was really pleased," said Huber.
In the Hoosiers first look at platform diving, Natalia Diea of Ohio State took the crown with 416.10 points. Cassandra Cardinell and Jessica Williams of Indiana took second and third, with 348.67, and 346.20 points, respectively.
"Ohio State is a great team, probably the best team in the conference," commented Huber. "There were sometimes we would beat them up there, and then they'd turn around and beat us right back."
Opening the New Year Against Cincinnati
The only comparable condition between Indiana’s trip to Miami and their return to Bloomington was that they spent most of the time in the pool.
"We were a little bit more fresh than I thought we would be," commented head coach Dorsey Tierney.
"This is probably the best we've performed after a training trip since I've been here."
The work paid off in a 161-77 victory over Cincinnati, moving the team to a 5-0 overall record. Indiana combined to win nine of the 11 events. Jenn Cristy led the way in winning the 50 free in a season best 23.58. Anne Williams followed for the one-two punch finishing in 24.23. Cristy also won the 100 free (51.00) and anchored the winning 400-medley relay (3:54.05). Tina Gretlund collected on a double victory taking the 200 IM in 2:07.54 and the 200 breast in 2:25.01. Both wins paved the way for Hoosier dominance as four of the top five finishers in each event swam for Indiana. Sarah Fiden raced the 500 and 1000 free, posting a win in the 1000 in 10:15.96 and taking second in the 500 in 5:02.30. The freshman set the pace as three teammates directly followed her in each race. Susan Woessner was the first of the four Hoosiers to take top places in the 200 back She won the event in 2:04.57. Kristy Martin won the 200 fly in 2:06.09 and the 400 free relay closed off the meet with a time of 3:32.99 for first place.
We haven't raced in a while, and I miss racing all the time. I got trained harder in the last two weeks than I have all year, probably in the last year and a half that was very good for me," said Cristy. "Like Anne (Williams) said, 'we're all on autopilot'. Our bodies were so used to cranking it that it was just like saying ok, we're going again. So I guess it was a little of both, not racing and training, getting back into shape."
Miami Invitational
Jenn Cristy led the way at the Miami Invitational Friday. Her first place finish in the 50 free was the first of seven Hoosiers competing in the race. Cristy's time of 23.59 was less than a second ahead of teammate Anne Williams. Williams tied for seventh in 24.44. Meghan Medendorp and Sarah Bowman were the next two finalists coming in at 13th and 15th places, respectively.
This same group combined for a second place finish in the 200 free relay. Their time of 1:35.58 was bettered only by Illinois' 1:34.96.
Susan Woessner was Indiana's gold at the Miami Invitational . She won the 100 back, took eleventh in the 100 fly, and swam the lead leg on the third place 200 medley team. Woessner went into the 100 back finals with the fastest prelim time. She won the event in 56 seconds flat
Megan Geers and Sarah Fiden went home with victories Sunday night at the Miami Invitational. Geers capitalized on her second place-qualifying swim to take the 200 breast victory in 2:22.19. She defeated the top qualifier and second place finisher Suzy Riley of Miami by 1.68 seconds. Fiden swam her second mile race of the season in 16:49.62 for the victory. Her nearest competitor was almost 13 seconds behind.
Indiana Invite
The Indiana Invite lived up to its name as the Hoosiers dominated the field in winning with 1,151 points. Jenn Cristy was one of the many highlights on the final day of competition. After a disappointing 50-yard free loss on Friday, Cristy returned with her best 100-yard free performance of the season. Her 100 free in 50.88 was her fifth victory of the weekend. Her sixth came in the 400-yard free relay.
The final event of the first night showcased Indiana’s depth as the Hoosiers took first and third place in the 400-Yard medley relay in 3:50.16 and 3:53.09. Led by Susan Woessner, the winning team made a push for the lead in the first leg. Megan Geers dived in for the second leg and extended the lead. Tina Gretlund was next in one of her strongest 100-Yard fly performances, and Jenn Cristy was able to bring the team the victory.
A 1-2 finish in the 200-Yard free relay added to the team effort. The teams finished in 1:34.55 and 1:37.55. The winning team set a season best.
Tina Gretlund put a strong effort into the 200 IM to emerge with a third place finish. Sarah Fiden continued to excel in the distance events as she claimed second in the 500-Yard free. Her 4:57.05 was a season best.
The Indiana women's swim team won the 200-yard medley relay, the 100-yard fly, the 200-yard free, the 100-yard back, and the 800-yard free relay to extend their lead in the Indiana Invite going into the final day.
The 800 free relay highlighted the evening with the Hoosiers pulling out the win over Cincinnati. Sarah Fiden, Erin Rice, Jenny Bechem, and Ellie Lallman finished the Hoosiers’ first 800 free relay of the season in 7:40.63.
Susan Woessner provided her own show in the 100 back. Fifty yards into the race she trailed the leader by 0.2 seconds. She fought her way back to the front to finish first in 56.19. After losing the 50 free to Evansville's Kim Dodson Friday night, Jenn Cristy was ready to prove she belongs at the finish first. In the 200 free, Cristy took the lead at the halfway point. Her finish in 1:51.43 was good enough for a win and a season best.
Indiana’s 400 free relay won by 3.11 seconds. Anne Williams swam the first leg and built a lead that was never relinquished. With Sarah Fiden swimming second, the lead had grown to 2.06 seconds with 200 yards to go. Gretlund and Cristy dropped the field finishing in 3:30.76.
The Wildcats of Northwestern
The last time Head Coach Dorsey Tierney's brother went head to head with his kid sister, Jimmy Tierney went home with the winning team. Indiana's Tierney made sure that did not happen this time around.
The Hoosiers out swam the Wildcats 168.5-131.5 to take their second conference victory. The team was led by Jenn Cristy's 100 free win in 52.07, Sarah Fiden's 500 free win in 4:59.74 and Tina Gretlund's 200 fly win in 2:03.34. Indiana squads won both relays, the 400 free in 3:30.98 and the 200 medley in 1:45.93. Cristy finished second in the 50 and 200 free races to Northwestern's Maria Reeves and Erin Swenson.
The 500 freestyle again stole the show. Following Fiden was Jenny Bechem finishing second in 5:03.45 and Erin Rice in 5:04.48 for third. Fiden pulled away half way through the race from Northwestern's 1000 winner Erica Rose. Bechem and Rice caught Rose in the last laps.
Indiana divers cleaned up on the boards in collecting first, second, and third places in the 1-meter and 3-meter. Jennifer Sonneborn won both events.
The Wildcats of Kentucky
Indiana women's swimming faced one of its toughest competitors November 3 in the Wildcats of Kentucky. The Hoosiers prevailed 149-94 in a meet that brought out the best in the entire team.
Sarah Fiden's cap came off half-way into her 1000 free race. She fought for third place and came back to take the lead with 15 yards remaining. She won the 500 in 4:58.15.
"I have this feeling at the end that nobody's going to beat me. I have this urge that they don't have the right to beat me. I was pulling more towards getting points for the team. I was mad after my 1000 for my cap falling off, so I had to get recharged, go back and do it again," said Fiden.
Susan Woessner pulled out a first place finish in the 200 back. She finished in 2:03.25, .22 seconds ahead of Kentucky's Melissa Olson.
Tina Gretlund won the 200 fly in 2:03.02 and Jenn Cristy won the 100 free in a season best time of 51.12. The 400 medley team of Woessner, Geers, Gretlund, and Cristy took first in 3:50.71.
Erin Quinn led all divers by doubling wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Jennifer Sonneborn and Cassandra Cardinell followed in second and third on the 1-meter board.
Fiden Adds New Event as the Hoosiers Beat Illinois
Freshman Sarah Fiden added the 1000 freestyle to her resume against Illinois on October 28 helping the Hoosiers defeat the Fighting Illini.
Fiden’s first stab at the 1000 free concluded in a victory over Illinois' Jen Peters by .22 seconds. Fiden swam the event in 10:09.73.
Fiden doubled up in the distance events by also competing in the 500 free. She finished second in
5:02.17.
The women's squad won 10 events to defeat the Illini 180.5-118.5. The 200 fly featured Jenny Bechem taking first in 2:06.80, Kristy Martin finishing second in 2:07.33, and Maggie Helmers holding on to third in 2:07.69. In the 500 free, Fiden, Erin Rice, and Meredith Stettner showed solid improvement from the Evansville meet. Jenn Cristy competed in and won four events. She anchored the winning 400 medley and claimed victory in the 50, 100, and 200 free.
Diving added its own excitement with Jennifer Sonneborn winning both the one-meter (282.52) and three-meter (313.27) boards and the Hoosiers consistently posting the top scores on both. Erin Quinn collected 307.20 points diving exhibition on the three-meter and 269.02 on the one-meter for third place.
Olympic Quality
Seniors Jenn Cristy and Amanda Noblet, juniors Sara Reiling and Susan Woessner, sophomore Anne Williams and freshman Sarah Fiden competed in the Olympic trials in Indianapolis in August.
Reiling qualified for the Olympic Games in the platform dive and finished 13th in Sydney. Cristy finished 20th in the 50 freestyle, 26th the 100 freestyle, and 56th in the 200 freestyle at the trials. Woessner finished 20th in the 100 backstroke while Noblet placed 22nd in the 200 backstroke. Williams finished 97th in the 100 freestyle. Fiden placed 60th in the 200 freestyle and 71st in the 400 freestyle.
