No. 18 IU Plays Host to 2005 Big Tens

2/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

February 14, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 18 Indiana women's swimming and diving squad plays host to the 2005 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships from Feb. 16-19 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.

LET THE REVOLUTION BE TELEVISED
College Sports Television (CSTV) will televise the 2005 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships from Feb. 16-19 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind., on a tape delay basis. Overall, the conference championship package will be broadcast on eight occasions with the first on Feb. 22 at 9:30 p.m. Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Mike O'Brien (analyst) will call the action with help from former IU standout Greer McGettrick (stats).

Knapp, a Philadelphia area native, has done play-by-play for numerous CSTV events including basketball, football, lacrosse, wrestling, volleyball, field hockey, rugby, swimming and diving and gymnastics. Knapp also serves as the Sports Director for WBRE in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre PA.

O'Brien, a five-time U.S. National Champion at Southern California, has been a swim broadcaster since 1989. He has analyzed events for Prime Network, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and CSTV. Additionally, O'Brien held the 500 and 1,000 freestyle American records and was a 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1500 freestyle.

McGettrick, a two-time IU school record-holder in the 100 breaststroke and the 400 medley relay, is also second in the 200 medley relay and third in the 200 breaststroke on IU's charts. McGettrick will provide some insight into Big Ten women's swimming.

NCAA PROVISIONAL QUALIFIERS
Thus far, Indiana has 10 individual NCAA provisional qualifying times and a trio of relay marks this season.

Event, Time, Hoosier
50 free, 23.55, Annica Lofstedt
100 free, 51.10, Leila Vaziri
200 free, 1:50.75, Doherty Colgin
200 free, 1:49.88, Leila Vaziri
500 free, 4:53.72, Kristen Bradley
100 back, 54.83, Leila Vaziri
200 back, 2:00.76, Leila Vaziri
200 fly, 2:01.60, Sarah Bugden
200 IM, 2:03.35, Kristen Bradley
400 IM, 4:18.94, Kristen Bradley

Relays, Time
200 free, 1:33.55
Lofstedt, Smith, Vaziri, Wentworth

400 free, 3:24.89
Bugden, Lofstedt, Smith, Vaziri

800 free, 7:21.91
Bradley, Colgin, Vaziri, Wentworth

NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
Seven Indiana divers (senior Cassandra Cardinell, sophomore Heather Chapman, freshman Ashley Greene, freshman Christina Loukas, junior Lisa Silvestri, freshman Jade Summerlin and sophomore Lindsay Weigle) have posted NCAA zone qualifying marks this season.

CARDINELL AND HUBER TABBED TO USA DIVING TEAM
Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber and 2004 Olympian Cassandra Cardinell were both invited to the USA Diving International Team on Feb. 1. Both Hoosiers will participate in the 2005 China Open April 4-6, while Cardinell will compete at the 2005 USA/FINA Grand Prix May 12-15.

VAZIRI - BIG TEN SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
After claiming five event titles, including four NCAA provisional times, in a 211-158 loss to No. 14 Penn State Jan. 28-29, sophomore Leila Vaziri garnered Big Ten Swimmer of the Week recognition for the week of Feb. 1.

VAZIRI - NATIONAL SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
After leading No. 24 Indiana over in-state rival No. 19 Purdue, 157-141, on Jan. 22, sophomore Leila Vaziri garnered CollegeSwimming.com National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week recognition for the week of Jan. 24.

Vaziri claimed her first swimmer of the week accolade after capturing three event titles against the Boilermakers. The Coral Springs, Fla., native led off the first-place 200-yard medley relay, touched first in the 100-yard backstroke and dominated the 200-yard backstroke by more than a second.

USA DIVING INTERNATIONAL TEAM SELECTION CAMP
A group of six Indiana divers participated in the 2005 USA Diving International Team Selection Camp from Jan. 24-26 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind. Senior Marc Carlton and junior Brian Mariano competed from the men's squad while senior Cassandra Cardinell, freshman Christina Loukas, junior Lisa Silvestri and sophomore Lindsay Weigle represented IU on the women's side.

FALL SIGNEES
Indiana head coach Dorsey Tierney and the Indiana women's swimming and diving program announced the signing of 11 student-athletes for the 2005-06 academic year. Kristen Cihoski (Yorktown, Va./Tabb), Abby Cooper (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy), Caitlin Heyman (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall), Sarah Jones (Battle Creek, Mich./Battle Creek Central), Allison Kay (Strongsville, Ohio/Magnificat), Katie Mitsch (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown), Kelly Morris (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen), Alison Soelter (Wichita, Kan./Trinity Academy), Sarah Stockwell (Kent, Wash./Kentlake), Andrea Weintraub (Encino, Calif./Milken Community), and Kristy Winck (Newburgh, Ind./Castle) will join IU beginning with the 2005-06 campaign.

DIVING DOMINANCE
On the crowd-pleasing platform, Weigle amazed the fans at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center as she posted an IU dual-meet mark with a 343.65 to win the event against Northwestern. Sophomore Heather Chapman took second with a 301.28, while Christina Loukas finished in third in 291.38.

INDIANA BOUND
The travel budget should be lessened this year as both the NCAA Zone Diving Championships and the NCAA Championships will be hosted by Purdue in nearby West Lafayette, Ind. That should make the six native Hoosiers on the squad happy as well:

Hoosier, Hometown
Heather Chapman, Indianapolis
Ashley Greene, Indianapolis
Meghan Keefer, Fort Wayne
Lauren Schrader, Lafayette
Jade Summerlin, Fishers
Lindsay Weigle, Bloomington

CIRCLING THE GLOBE
Head Coach Dorsey Tierney not only recruits nationally, but also globally as evidenced by the four Hoosiers hailing from international destinations. Kristen Bradley and Angela Calvert both call Ontario, Canada home, while Susanna Ernst's hometown is Vienna, Austria. Annica Lofstedt (Orebo, Sweden) also comes from across the pond.

SEVEN STRONG, WILL WE SEE EIGHT?
Dr. Jeff Huber, Indiana men's and women's diving coach, was selected as U.S. Diving's National Coach of the Year for the United States Olympic Committee's Coach Recognition Program for an incredible seventh consecutive time.

The accolade closed out an amazing year for Huber as the Indiana diving program continued its dominance on the national scene by claiming the program's 11th consecutive U.S. Combined (men and women) National Championship. The men's and women's programs joined to outdistance second-place Auburn by over 100 points.

ATHENS PERFORMANCES
Four Hoosiers represented the U.S. in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Current diver Cassandra Cardinell, former divers Sara Hildebrand and Kimiko Soldati and Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber all ventured to the home of the Olympiad over the summer. Cardinell and Hildebrand took seventh in the synchro 10-meter, while Hildebrand took 10th in the 10-meter. Soldati claimed 21st place in the three-meter springboard.

NEXT UP
Qualified divers head to Purdue for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, March 11-13, to compete for the chance to rejoin qualified IU swimmers at the NCAA Championships back in West Lafayette, March 17-19.