Indiana University Athletics
Tierney's Troops Maintain Lead
2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
February 21, 2003
IU LEADS BIG TEN SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS BY NARROW MARGIN WITH ONE DAY OF COMPETITION REMAINING
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Indiana head coach Dorsey Tierney, the 2001 and 2002 Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year, knew that her team needed to be in contention going into the final two days of competition but didn't necessarily expect to be leading. Yet, the entire dynamic of the meet changed following the disqualification of the 400 medley relay team. Adding to those tensions, Indiana's Kristen Bradley was also disqualified in the consolation finals of the 400-yard individual medley.
What made the disqualifications so much more profound -- and even hard to swallow -- was the fact that it was a DQ in 400-yard freestyle relay a year ago that cost the Hoosiers the Big Ten title, sent Penn State home champions, and left the Hoosiers heartbroken.
"We thought we could be ahead and the end of today," said Tierney. "We actually thought it could be a little bit more than it is. That's how a four-day meet goes. The meet starts over again tomorrow. That's how we always look at it."
Indiana had two individual winners on the evening as senior Sara Hildebrand set a Big Ten record on 3-Meter, an event she had never won at the Big Ten meet, and junior Brooke Taflinger won the 400-yard IM in a Big Ten record time of 4:12.43. Hildebrand recorded a score of 594.65 to outdistance second-place finisher Nanilea Underwood of Iowa by 30.05 points.
"My third and fourth dives kind of propelled me over the top," said Hildebrand. "My third dive is kind of my scary dive right now. It's a reverse 2 1/2 with 1 1/2 twists. It went well. My start wasn't quite there but I hung on to it. It's a high (degree of difficulty) and that helped me out. My fourth dive went really well and I didn't expect it to go quite as well as it did."
It didn't take the Hoosiers too long to go to work in attempt to recapture some of its lost points. In the second event of the evening, Taflinger finished first and set the Big Ten record in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:12.43. It bettered her prelim time of 4:14.98, which she recorded this morning. Senior Kristy Martin finished third in a time of 4:16.42 and freshman Lauren Lubus won the consolation heat in the event with a time of 4:19.83. Senior Maggie Helmers finished 12th. Bradley competed in the consolation heat but was disqualified for an alleged illegal butterfly kick on her breaststroke pullout.
"It was a little bit beyond my expectations," said Taflinger. "My goal heading in was to go (4):14 but that's what I went this morning. I was completely shocked that's what I went this morning. I felt pretty good but I didn't feel like I was going all that fast this morning. When I looked at the scoreboard I was like, oh my gosh. Tonight, I knew (second place finisher, Wisconsin's Bethany Pendleton) was a backstroker and a freestyler and I knew she was going to be tough on the ends so I knew I needed to use my breaststroke to pull ahead, because it was going to be a pretty good race at the end. I just tried to hold her off the best I could."
Indiana continued its drive for a team title in the finals of the 100-yard butterfly as sophomore Erin Smith finished fourth in a time of 54.67, which breaks her own school record. Penn State freshman Amberle Biedermann won the event in 53.54, which was an NCAA automatic qualifying time. For the Hoosiers, Lubus was sixth in a time of 55.43 and senior Colleen McCracken finished second in the consolation heat (55.32) for a 10th-place finish overall.
Wisconsin continued to apply pressure on the Hoosiers as sophomore Carly Piper and senior Sarah McCauley finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle. Both swimmers recorded automatic NCAA qualifying times. Indiana's depth, however, allowed the Badgers to only gain one point in the event as four swimmers scored for the Hoosiers. In the finals heat, senior Tina Gretlund was sixth in a time of 1:49.24 and Sarah Fiden was eighth (1:50.26). Junior Erin Gorlesky won the consolation head in a time of 1:49.58, while freshman Doherty Colgin finished 13th (1:50.44).
Indiana only had one swimmer, senior Megan Geers, among the top 16 swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Pickerington, Ohio, product finished the event 13th in a time of 1:04.54. Purdue senior Lindsay Lange won in 1:00.47, which was an automatic NCAA qualifying cut.
The swimming events concluded with the finals and consolation finals of the 100-yard backstroke. Penn State freshman Sarah Haupt won the event in a time of 53.44. Sophomore Tammy Kostner finished eighth in a time of 56.54, while McCracken was 11th (56.70).
The evening concluded with the finals of the 3-Meter diving competition. In addition to Hildebrand's win, junior Cassandra Cardinell was fifth. Senior Lori Matthys finished 15th, breaking into the scoring column for the Hoosiers.
"It was definitely a great competition," said Dr. Jeff Huber, the five-time U.S. National Coach-of-the-Year. "I though all of the divers in the finals did a great job."
The 2003 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships conclude Saturday. During the 11:00 a.m. preliminaries, the 1,650-yard freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and platform diving. The finals and consolation finals of those events, in addition to the finals of the 400 freestyle relay, will be contested beginning at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Team Scores
1. Indiana University, 400
2. Wisconsin, 383
3. Penn State, 340
4. Michigan, 315
5. Purdue, 268
6. Minnesota, 262
7. Iowa, 176
8. Northwestern, 171
9. Ohio State, 132
10. Illinois, 110
11. Michigan State, 100
Monday, August 17
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12