Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Head to NCAAs
3/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 18, 2003
HOOSIERS TO COMPETE AT 2003 NCAA WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
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Bloomington, Ind. - One month ago, the Indiana women's swimming and diving team won its first Big Ten title since 1981. Beginning Thursday, several squad members (8 swimmers & 3 divers) will look to earn recognition on the national stage as it competes at the 2003 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on the campus of Auburn University. Dedicated in 1994, the facility is regarded as the third-fastest pool in the United States. Indiana will be looking to improve upon its 10th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships, which was the highest finish in school history. The graduation of 2002 All-America Susan Woessner, however, won't make such improvement easy.
"This is a unique group of events in which we are competing this year," said fifth-year head women's swimming coach Dorsey Tierney, the 2001 and 2002 Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year. "It's a little bit different because in the past we scored most of our points in relays and that's really not going to be an option for us this year. I think it's important for several of our upperclassmen, especially, to start performing on the national level and this would be a great opportunity for them. All in all it will be a challenging for us as no one in this group has ever scored for us other than relays."
The leading contender to score the most points for the Hoosiers in the swimming events is junior Brooke Taflinger, who is seeded seventh in the 400-yard individual medley. A Kokomo, Ind., native who transferred to Indiana after one season at the University of Florida, set a Big Ten record in the event at the 2003 Big Ten Championships with a time of 4:12.43.
In addition to Taflinger, junior Sarah Fiden (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) is seeded 12th in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:21.24) and 15th in the 500 free (4:45.36), while freshman Lauren Lubus (St. Louis, Mo./Nerinx Hall) is seeded 16th in the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.11). Indiana is seeded ninth in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:13.76). The top 16 finishers in each event score team points.
In addition to Taflinger, Fiden, and Lubus, junior Meghan Medendorp (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) is scheduled to compete in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, while seniors Kristy Martin (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) and Tina Gretlund (Kastrup, Denmark) will compete in the 400-yard IM and 200-yard freestyle, respectively. Freshman Doherty Colgin (Mountain Brook, Ala./Mountain Brook) and junior Erin Gorlesky (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Snider) will likely compete as members of the 800-yard freestyle relay team.
While Indiana certainly looks to make an impact in the swimming events, the diving trio of seniors Sara Hildebrand (Roseville, Minn./Cretin-Durham Hall) and Lori Matthys (Blue Grass, Iowa/West), along with junior Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y./Shaker), will all compete on 1-Meter, 3-Meter, and 10-Meter Platform. Both Hildebrand and Cardinell have the ability to score in all three events, while Matthys' specialty is platform. Hildebrand, a 2000 Olympian on platform, has the ability to win a national championship on any of the disciplines but at this time feels most comfortable on platform. This past weekend, she won individual titles on 1-Meter and Platform at the NCAA Zone "C" Regionals at Oxford, Ohio.
"I'm excited about this weekend," said Hildebrand. "I don't want to walk in there with all kind of pressure to do well because it's my senior year but of course I want to do well. I have a few dives on platform that still aren't consistent but right now I feel most comfortable on platform."
Added Dr. Jeff Huber, the five-time U.S. National Coach-of-the-Year and the Big Ten Diving Coach-of-the-Year for both men and women, "Our focus is on performance. We need to stay within ourselves and look to have our season-best performances and, wherever that puts us, that's fine."
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