Indiana University Athletics
Moving On Up, IU Diving Pushes Four to Finals
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
February 18, 2005
Day Three Quotes
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No. 18 Indiana women's swimming and diving moved four divers into the championship finals from the three-meter diving preliminary round of the 2005 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. The three-meter competition, held on Feb. 18 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, featured some incredible dives as Iowa junior Nancilea Underwood finished as the top qualifier based on an 11-dive personal-best total of 540.10. Indiana senior Cassandra Cardinell, however, will carry-over the most points from the semifinal session after banking a 214.50 tally in her final five dives.
Freshman Christina Loukas continued her amazing run at the conference championships with a 538-point string of dives, while Ohio State sophomore Julie Broms finished in third with a 534.55. Iowa senior Lisette Planken qualified fourth with 533.10, while Purdue junior Carrie McCambridge came in fifth with a 529.95.
A trio of IU divers came next with Cardinell recording a sixth-place personal-best tally of 529.35, sophomore Lindsay Weigle posting a seventh-place career-high 522.45 and junior Lisa Silvestri rounding out the championship divers with an eighth-place personal-standard 504.50.
"I have been blessed to have a lot of good kids in our program," Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber said. "It's been a lot of fun. Cassie is probably one of the fastest improvements I have ever seen. It's been phenomenal. She's got a lot of heart and determination. Loukas is also terrific. She's the best freshman we've had. She's very similar in some ways to Sara Reiling-Hildebrand. I think she's going to have a very successful career."
Next up, the Cream and Crimson continues the 2005 Big Ten Championships at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center in Bloomington, Ind., with finals.
