Indiana University Athletics
No. 16 Hoosiers Head to Columbus for Big Tens
2/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 13, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 16 Indiana women's swimming and diving squad looks for its first conference title since winning the 2003 Big Ten Championships with 595 points. This year's league meet will take place in Columbus, Ohio, from Feb. 15-18.
NARROWING THE GAP
The Hoosiers should be closer to winning a Big Ten title this season, as they return just 30 points less than champion Penn State from the 2005 Big Ten Championships. The Nittany Lions return 328 points, while the Hoosiers bring back 298 points from last season.
NCAA PROVISIONALS
The following swimmers have posted NCAA provisional times:
| Hoosier | Event | Time |
| Kristen Bradley | 200 IM | 2:02.21 |
| Kristen Bradley | 400 IM | 4:19.50 |
| Allison Kay | 200 fly | 2:00.93 |
| Allison Kay | 400 IM | 4:21.50 |
| Annica Lofstedt | 50 free | 23.43 |
| Annica Lofstedt | 100 free | 50.13 |
| Annica Lofstedt | 100 fly | 55.14 |
| Leila Vaziri | 100 back | 54.50 |
| Leila Vaziri | 200 back | 2:01.01 |
| Leila Vaziri | 100 free | 50.86 |
| Relay | Event | Time |
| Indiana | 400 free | 3:24.70 |
| Indiana | 400 medley | 3:44.77 |
NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
All five divers have secured zone qualifying scores so far this season. Heather Chapman, Ashley Greene, Christina Loukas, Jade Summerlin and Lindsay Weigle each punched their ticket to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio.
DIVING EXCELLENCE - LOUKAS
Christina Loukas scorched the competition at Minnesota with a 335.55 to win the one-meter crown. Remarkably, that tally eclipsed IU's dual-meet school record previously sent by Sara Reiling with a 327.75 in 2003. Loukas now owns both the one-meter dual-meet standard, while Lindsay Weigle set the three-meter and platform standards over the past two seasons.
DIVING EXCELLENCE - WEIGLE
In the three-meter competition, Lindsay Weigle amazed the crowd with a school-record string of dives. The Bloomington, Ind., product nailed all six dives on her list to post a 357.75 against UCLA. That effort surpassed the previous standard of 354.00 set by Christina Loukas on Jan. 29, 2005.
COACHING MILESTONES
With the women's swimming and diving team's 177-123 conquest over No. 14 Purdue on Jan. 21, Ray Looze reached 70 career wins.
STEPPING UP THE SCHEDULE
Indiana head coach Ray Looze stepped up the schedule this season as the Hoosiers will battle a number of top 25 teams. Overall, IU scheduled five teams (No. 2 Auburn, No. 6 UCLA (diving), No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 Penn State and No. 15 Michigan) ranked in the first CSCAA Dual Meet poll. Florida led the nation with eight ranked teams on its schedule.
BIG TEN SWEEP X 3
Junior Annica Lofstedt and sophomore Christina Loukas swept the Big Ten Swimmer and Diver of the Week awards for the week ending Oct. 30, as announced by the conference office on Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, IU snared both the Big Ten weekly awards for the week ending Jan. 22. Junior Leila Vaziri snagged Big Ten Swimmer of the Week kudos, while Loukas grabbed Big Ten Diver of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Jan. 24.
Moreover, IU garnered both the Big Ten weekly awards for the week ending Jan. 29. Lofstedt snared Big Ten Swimmer of the Week kudos, while Loukas earned Big Ten Diver of the Week for the second consecutive time, as announced by the conference office on Jan. 31.
BIG TIME MERGER
Over the summer, the men's and women's swimming and diving programs merged under head coach Ray Looze. The change will allow IU to tailor training to specific distances and strokes, while also gaining an assistant diving coach (Todd Waikel).
LOUKAS EARNS USA DIVING SPOT
Sophomore Christina Loukas' hard work at the International Selection Camp in Indianapolis, Ind., from Jan. 18-22 paid off as the Riverwoods, Ill., native earned a spot on USA Diving's FINA Grand Prix team set to compete in Zhuhai, China from April 21-23.
TRAINING IN PARADISE
The Hoosiers enjoyed a productive winter training trip to Nassau, Bahamas on Dec. 29-Jan 5. During the excursion, the Hoosiers participated in a joint practice with Auburn and Michigan State.
THE 2006-07 CLASS
Indiana head coach Ray Looze and the Indiana University swimming and diving program announced the signing of 11 student-athletes for the 2006-07 academic year. Presley Bard (Napa, Calif./Napa), Brittany Barwegen (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior), Emma Berry (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwestern), Ashley Jones (Joliet, Ill./Minooka Community), Emily Lanteigne (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North), Cassie Luhrsen (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township), Emily Porteous (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), Alyssa Rosinko (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Amilee Smith (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) will look to impact Indiana beginning with the 2006-07 campaign. Meanwhile, head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber signed Brittney Feldman (Indianapolis, Ind./Broad Ripple) and Amy Korthauer (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) during the early signing period.
