Indiana University Athletics
2004-05 Year in Review
9/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 28, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 18 Indiana women's swimming and diving squad proved that they may be small in size, but are mighty in the pool and off the boards as the Cream and Crimson closed out the year with the best finish in school history. Here are some of the notable accomplishments from the previous season.
For a complete 2004-05 Year in Review package, please click here.
BEST FINISH EVER The No. 18 Indiana women's swimming and diving squad finished in ninth place with 112 points at the 2005 NCAA Championships. That feat now stands as the best finish at the national meet in IU annals, bettering the previous standard of a 10th-place tie in 2002.
CASSIE THE GREAT Senior Cassandra Cardinell acquired several noteworthy addendums to her resume with her triumph on the tower at NCAAs.
Cardinell not only became the first Hoosier to win a national championship since Kimiko Hirai claimed the one-meter crown in 1996. She also became the first non-one-meter champion as IU's only other national titles came with AIAW one-meter triumphs by Amy McGrath (1980) and Lona Foss (1982).
HUBER OF THE YEAR Dr. Jeff Huber's name is becoming synonymous with Coach of the Year honors, as he not only swept the Big Ten annual accolades; he also garnered the National Coach of the Year award at NCAAs.
2005 ALL-AMERICANS Swimmers Kristen Bradley, Junior Doherty Colgin, Junior Annica Lofstedt, Sophomore Erin Smith, Senior Leila Vaziri, Sophomore
Divers Cassandra Cardinell, Senior Christina Loukas, Freshman Lisa Silvestri, Junior
NCAA FINISHES Here are the NCAA performances of the record-setting group of Hoosiers:
Relays 200-yard freestyle relay, 1:32.59 14th 200-yard medley relay, 1:42.82 14th 800-yard freestyle relay, 7:19.16 14th 400-yard freestyle relay, 3:22.50 15th
Kristen Bradley 200-yard IM, 2:04.34 53rd 400-yard IM, 4:21.82 31st
Cassandra Cardinell One-meter, 279.95 9th Three-meter, 243.25 30th Platform, 501.45 1st
Doherty Colgin 500-yard freestyle, 4:52.51 46th 200-yard freestyle, 1:49.18 31st
Annica Lofstedt 50-yard freestyle, 23.34 45th 100-yard butterfly, 56.11 47th
Christina Loukas One-meter, 296.80 7th Three-meter, 542.70 5th Platform, 410.60 10th
Lisa Silvestri One-meter, 291.05 8th Three-meter, 471.60 12th Platform, 348.40 22nd
Erin Smith 50-yard freestyle, 23.35 47th 100-yard butterfly, 54.69 27th
Leila Vaziri 100-yard backstroke, 54.20 7th
NCAA QUALIFIERS Indiana claimed 15 swims in the preliminary sessions of NCAAs. Additionally, IU advanced three divers to the show.
Relays Event 7, 200 medley relay (15th seed) Event 21, 400 freestyle relay (14th seed)
Kristen Bradley Event 3, 200 IM (18th seed) Event 8, 400 IM (35th seed)
Cassandra Cardinell One-meter springboard Three-meter springboard Platform
Doherty Colgin Event 2, 500 freestyle (54th seed) Event 10, 200 freestyle (29th seed)
Annica Lofstedt Event 4, 50 freestyle (31st seed) Event 9, 100 butterfly (53rd seed) Event 17, 100 freestyle (64th seed)
Christina Loukas One-meter springboard Three-meter springboard Platform
Lisa Silvestri One-meter springboard Three-meter springboard Platform
Erin Smith Event 4, 50 freestyle (63rd seed) Event 9, 100 butterfly (31st seed) Event 17, 100 freestyle (69th seed)
Leila Vaziri Event 10, 200 freestyle (48th seed) Event 12, 100 backstroke (4th seed) Event 16, 200 backstroke (30th seed)
ZONE SUCCESS Indiana claimed three of the seven available transfer spots at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championship as senior Cassandra Cardinell, freshman Christina Loukas and junior Lisa Silvestri all punched their tickets to Purdue.
BIG TEN HONOREES Freshman Christina Loukas was crowned Big Ten Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championships, while Indiana diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber, the lone unanimous award winner, claimed the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year honor. Additionally, senior Cassandra Cardinell, Loukas and sophomore Leila Vaziri earned first team recognition, while junior Kristen Bradley garnered second team honors. Meanwhile, Cardinell was named the team's sportsmanship honoree.
TOWERING OVER THE COMPETITION The Indiana diving corps combined to score 214 of the 497 team points at Big Tens. The total bested the Big Ten diving mark of 123 points, established in 2003.
THE BETTER HALF? 2004 Olympian Cassandra Cardinell shined with a Big Ten and pool record after an incredible 558.65 string of dives as the top qualifier for the platform finals. Her performance overtook former teammate Sara Reiling-Hildebrand's tally of 544.35 in 2003 for the conference record and one-time University of Tennessee diver Kylee Wells' collegiate pool mark of 470.10 set in 2000.
Remarkably, Cardinell's prelim platform performance also was better than the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center collegiate pool record for the men, even though they have one more dive in their tower competition than the women (528.40 (10 dives) Jason Coben, Michigan, 2002)
BOOK-BURNING Indiana has posted nine school/pool records this season.
School Records Event Result Hoosier 200 free 1:48.28 Doherty Colgin 200 medley 1:41.24 Vaziri, Bradley, Smith, Lofstedt 1m 332.70 Christina Loukas 3m 354.00 Christina Loukas 10m (Dual) 343.65 Lindsay Weigle 10m 558.65 Cassie Cardinell
Pool Records Event Result Hoosier 100 back 53.64 Leila Vaziri 1m 332.70 Christina Loukas 10m 558.65 Cassie Cardinell
BIG TEN TITLES At the 2005 Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in the Counsilman-Billingsley, Indiana claimed three individual titles.
Event Hoosier 100 back Leila Vaziri 1m Christina Loukas 10m Cassandra Cardinell
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) 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 then-No. 24 Indiana over in-state rival then-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, sophomore Lindsay 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 on Nov. 5. Sophomore Heather Chapman took second with a 301.28, while freshman Christina Loukas finished in third in 291.38.
CIRCLING THE GLOBE Indiana head coach Dorsey Tierney not only recruits nationally, but also globally as evidenced by 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 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.
