Nine Hoosier Swimmers Selected for NCAA Championships

Ashley Jones is one of three Hoosier freshmen selected to participate in the NCAA Championships.

Nine Hoosier Swimmers Selected for NCAA Championships

3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving

March 2, 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Nine Indiana University swimmers were selected to participate in the NCAA Championships, held March 8-10 in Minneapolis, the NCAA announced March 1.

Presley Bard, Kristin Cihoski, Ashley Jones, Allison Kay, Annica Lofstedt, Amilee Smith, Sarah Stockwell, Leila Vaziri and Clarissa Wentworth will represent the Cream and Crimson at the championship meet.

Indiana will be represented in 15 swimming events, with Bard, Lofstedt and Vaziri seeded in seven events each.

Vaziri, a senior from Coral Springs, Fla., owns the Hoosiers' top seed, as she is the second seed in the 100-yard backstroke with a seed time of 52.85. Bard is the 19th seed in the event.

Bard is the next-highest seeded Hoosier, as the freshman from Napa, Calif., is the No. 5 seed in the 200-yard backstroke. Vaziri is seeded 11th in the event, while Jones, a freshman from Joliet, Ill., is the 17th seed.

Indiana is well represented in the 200-yard individual medley, with five Hoosiers seeded in the event. Bard is the No. 46 seed, while Jones is No. 51, Stockwell is No. 66, Kay is No. 71 and Cihoski, a sophomore from Yorktown, Va., is No. 74.

Three IU swimmers are seeded in both the 400-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle. Kay (17), Jones (20) and Smith (45) will represent Indiana in the 400 IM, while Vaziri (40), Lofstedt (47) and Wentworth (66) will compete in the 50 free.

Lofstedt, a senior from Orebo, Sweden, is the Hoosiers' top seed in the 100-yard freestyle, as she owns the 35th-best seed time. Wentworth is seeded 53rd in the event.

Indiana also has a pair of swimmers in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Smith, a freshman from Ellicott City, Md., leading the way at No. 14. Stockwell is the 31st seed.

Lofstedt and Kay will represent IU in the butterfly events, with Lofstedt holding the No. 45 seed in the 100-yard butterfly and Kay, a sophomore from Strongsville, Ohio, earning the 12th seed in the 200-yard butterfly.

Wentworth, a senior from Dayton, Ohio, is the 42nd seed in the 200-yard freestyle, while Stockwell, a sophomore from Kent, Wash., is the 32nd seed in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The Hoosiers will also be represented in four of the five relays. Lofstedt, Vaziri, Bard and Cihoski own the 18th seed in the 200-yard freestyle relay, while Vaziri, Stockwell, Bard and Lofstedt are No. 8 in the 400-yard medley relay and No. 11 in the 200-yard medley relay. Lofstedt, Vaziri, Bard and Wentworth are the No. 13 seed in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

"It's pretty much what we thought based on the information we had going in, with one surprise," Indiana head coach Ray Looze said. "We didn't really count on getting our 200 free relay in, so it was a pleasant surprise that Kristin Cihoski could make it in on that relay. She's a very important swimmer to the future of our program and I'm very pleased that she's going to get to go to NCAAs now. Unexpectedly, but with this meet, since it's very difficult to make, you never know how you're going to make it. You just count it a blessing that you do, and I think this is a good sign for her future. We've got some decent points based on seedings, but as I've said in the past, seedings mean nothing. Once preliminaries go, it all starts over. We've just got to do a good job of getting points where we can get them, whether it be individual or relay. We have nine young ladies going and we're going to find out here today and over the next several days how many divers we'll get, and then we'll know what our full squad is. But our goal is to finish with the highest ranking that our squad has ever had. Our goal is to be top eight."

Indiana's divers are at the NCAA Zone C Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., from March 2-4 in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Championships will take place at the University Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota, the site of Indiana's triumph in the 2007 Big Ten Championships three weeks ago.

Indiana's Seeds
200-yard freestyle relay
18. Annica Lofstedt, Leila Vaziri, Presley Bard, Kristin Cihoski

200-yard individual medley
46. Presley Bard
51. Ashley Jones
66. Sarah Stockwell
71. Allison Kay
74. Kristin Cihoski

50-yard freestyle
40. Leila Vaziri
47. Annica Lofstedt
66. Clarissa Wentworth

400-yard medley relay
8. Leila Vaziri, Sarah Stockwell, Presley Bard, Annica Lofstedt

200-yard medley relay
11. Leila Vaziri, Sarah Stockwell, Presley Bard, Annica Lofstedt

400-yard individual medley
17. Allison Kay
20. Ashley Jones
45. Amilee Smith

100-yard butterfly
45. Annica Lofstedt

200-yard freestyle
42. Clarissa Wentworth

100-yard breaststroke
32. Sarah Stockwell

100-yard backstroke
2. Leila Vaziri
19. Presley Bard

200-yard backstroke
5. Presley Bard
11. Leila Vaziri
17. Ashley Jones

100-yard freestyle
35. Annica Lofstedt
53. Clarissa Wentworth