Indiana University Athletics
IU Moves Into First Place
2/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
February 20, 2003
INDIANA MOVES INTO FIRST PLACE AT BIG TEN WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hildebrand Wins One-Meter Title
West Lafayette, Ind. - Indiana ended Thursday's action at the 2003 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in a fourth-place tie, but within eight points of co-leaders Wisconsin and Penn State. The Hoosiers inched ever closer to their first Big Ten Championships since 1981 during today's second day of swimming at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, moving solely into first place with a total of 220 points. The margin is slim, however, as Wisconsin is second with 218 points and Michigan sits third with 190."We were much better tonight," said head coach Dorsey Tierney, the two-time defending Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year. "We had a lot of nerves this morning but once people started settling into the meet we were ready to start swimming really fast. I think they did that. All-in-all I'm pleased with today but we have to take it one session at a time."
Indiana's effort was aided tremendously during the final event of the evening when senior Sara Hildebrand and Cassandra Cardinell finished first and second, respectively, in the 1-meter diving competition. Three Indiana juniors also turned in tremendous swimming performances as Meghan Medendorp finished second in the 50-yard freestyle (23.00), Sarah Fiden was third in the 500-yard freestyle in a school record time of 4:45.36, and Brooke Taflinger set a school record in the 200-yard individual medley, winning the consolation finals in a time of 2:01.52.
"I'm surprised," said Dr. Jeff Huber, the five-time U.S. National Coach-of-the-Year. "We want to dive well, I just didn't know what places we would be in. Cassie definitely came up and shone like a star in the finals and Sara really handled the pressure of going in the number one seed and hanging on. She got off to a little bit of a rough start on her second dive but she handled the rest like a pro. I was really pleased with Lori Matthys (in the prelims). She missed one dive and if she would have done that dive the way she did in warm-ups she would have been eighth or ninth. It was a good day for us but it's over and I've forgotten about it."
In the diving competition, Hildebrand, a 2000 Olympian on platform, trailed Cardinell by over 50 points going into her final dive but overcame the deficit with a solid final dive, outdistancing Cardinell, the talented IU junior, 318.50-311.85.
"Oh goodness," said Hildebrand. "One night down a couple more to go. It's always nice to have another win under your belt. I don't watch as the contest goes on and I didn't know how well Cassie was doing at all. When I looked up at the end I saw my name and knew that I won but didn't see Cassie's name. I heard everyone cheering and then I saw Cassie's name and I almost screamed."
Added Cardinell, "I'm happy (followed by incessant giggling). Honestly, I just wanted Sara and I to go 1-2 and it didn't matter what order. That's all I wanted and we did it. I am so happy."
In the first event of tonight's finals, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Tammy Kostner, senior Anne Williams, sophomore Erin Smith, and junior Meghan Medendorp finished in a third place tie with Michigan in a time of 1:32.17, which is the fourth-fastest time in school history. Wisconsin won the event in a Big Ten record time of 1:30.36, while the host Boilermakers finished second.
In the finals of the 500-yard freestyle, Fiden finished third in a time of 4:45.36. The time broke her own school record in the event, which she had set this morning in prelims. Wisconsin's Carly Piper won the race in a Big Ten pool and meet record time of 4:41.58, which is the fourth-fastest time in the nation this year. Fiden's time is an automatic NCAA qualifying time. Junior Erin Gorlesky was eighth in a time of 4:50.17, which moved her into fourth-place on IU's all-time top 10 list in the event.
"Time-wise, the (500 free) was very good," said Fiden. "I was very happy that I dropped a second from this morning. I wanted to get an "A" (NCAA) cut and I got that out of the way. I didn't really swim it that smart. I took it out a little too fast and used a little too much legs but I gutted it out."
In the consolation final of the 500 free, senior Jenny Bechem finished second in a time of 4:50.41, which was good for 10th-place overall. The time was more than six seconds faster than her time in the same event last year and moves her into fifth-place on IU's all-time top 10 list in the event behind Fiden, Jennifer Hooker, Erin Rice, and Gorlesky.
Senior Kristy Martin finished eighth in the finals of the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2:03.00. Junior Sarah Johnson of Michigan won the event in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:00.55. Indiana owned the consolation finals of the event as Taflinger and freshman Kristen Bradley finished first and second, respectively (9th and 10th overall) in times that were actually faster than several finalists. Taflinger's time of 2:01.52 is the fastest time in school history, while Bradley's 2:02.39 moved her into second-place on IU's all-time list in the event.
"Brooke had a great 200 IM tonight," said Tierney. "She broke the school record. She had to work through some jitters and came back and did a great job tonight. Kristen Bradley did a great job as well."
Indiana took another large step forward in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle as Medendorp and sophomore Tammy Kostner, finished second and seventh, respectively. Medendorp just missed breaking the 23-second barrier as she finished in 23.00, which moves her into second on IU's top 10 list, passing Kostner, who swam a 23.12 in prelims this morning.
"That was my best time," said Medendorp. "I took it out not so hot but I brought it back home and I've been focusing on finishing races. That helped me in getting second. I think that will help me in the 100 free."
The 2003 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships continue on Friday at 11:00 a.m. with the preliminaries of the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, and 3-meter diving being held. The finals of those events, in addition to the 400-yard medley relay will be held at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.
TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana, 220
2. Wisconsin, 218
3. Michigan, 190
4. Penn State, 174
5. Purdue, 150
6. Minnesota, 116
7. Northwestern, 96
8. Iowa, 94
9. Michigan State, 72
10. Ohio State, 71
11. Illinois, 59
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11