Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Tied for Fourth
2/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
February 19, 2003
INDIANA'S 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY SQUAD SETS SCHOOL RECORD DURING FIRST DAY OF 2003 BIG TEN SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
West Lafayette, Ind. - Indiana's first day at the 2003 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships = Mission Accomplished.Because Indiana's strongest swimming and diving events won't be contested until Saturday, women's swimming coach Dorsey Tierney, the two-time defending Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year, was well aware that in order for her team to have any chance at winning its first Big Ten title since 1981, it had to stay within striking distance of the leaders after the first few days of competition. It did just that during tonight's first two events of the championships, which are being held on the campus of Purdue University, as the Hoosiers set a new school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay and presently sit in fourth place tie with the host Boilermakers. The Hoosiers trail leaders Penn State and Wisconsin by only eight points, 70-62.
In the second and final event of the evening, the 800-yard freestyle relay team of senior Tina Gretlund, freshman Doherty Colgin, and juniors Erin Gorlesky and Sarah Fiden finished second to Wisconsin, yet shattered the school record in the event with a time of 7:13.76. The existing school record was 7:19.14, which was set last year. Wisconsin won the event in 7:07.30, which was a new Big Ten record and an automatic NCAA qualifying time. Indiana's time of 7:13.76 is a provisional NCAA qualifying mark and is the second-fastest time in the event in the history of the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers dropped an amazing 12.99 seconds off of its seeding time of 7:26.75.
In the first event of the evening, the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Tammy Kostner, senior Megan Geers, sophomore Erin Smith, and junior Meghan Medendorp finished fifth in a time of 1:42.48, which is the forth-best time in school history. Penn State won the event in a time of 1:39.41.
The 2003 Big Ten Championships resume at 11:00 a.m. Thursday with the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, and one-meter diving being contested. The finals of those events, in addition to the finals of the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay will be held at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Team Standing After First Two Events
1. University of Wisconsin 70
1. Penn State University 70
3. University of Michigan 64
4. Indiana University 62
4. Purdue University 62
6. University of Minnesota 52
7. Northwestern University 48
8. University of Illinois 40
9. University of Iowa 36
10. Michigan State University 32
11. Ohio State University 24
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12