Hoosiers swim past Hawkeyes for win

Going into their meet against Iowa, IU women\'s swimming coach Dorsey Tierney was looking for senior Susan Woessner and junior Anne Williams to step up for the Hoosiers. \nWoessner and Williams responded by winning both of their events. The duo also composed half of IU's relay team which won the 400-yard medley relay with the eighth fastest time in school history.\nAfter the meet, Tierney was pleased with the contributions Woessner and Williams made.\n"Susan (Woessner) is working real hard right now, so it is good to see her stay at that high level," Tierney said. "Anne (Williams) did a great job today. She gets the job done everyday and anytime I see her translate that into a race it is huge; it is great for me and the team to see."\nWoessner's wins came in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard backstroke. Her winning time of 56.49 in the 100-yard race was the fastest for the team this season. She was content with her performance and said her times are getting down where they should be for the championships in the spring.\n"I am happy with my swims today," she said. "I just wanted to get the job done. We have been working hard so the times are about right, but we are looking to be a little faster going into February and March."\nWilliams' times of 24.21 in the 50-yard freestyle and 52.05 in the 100-yard freestyle races also set season bests. Williams credited her group of sprint practice swimmers for her performance.\n"Our sprint group is very strong and everyone pushes each other in workouts," Williams said. "I feel like the way I swim reflects everybody in my group because they are the ones that push me everyday in practice."\nThe No. 17 Hoosiers defeated Iowa 194-106 to move to 2-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 in Big Ten meets. With the loss, the Hawkeyes drop to 0-2 overall with both meets in conference.\nIU also received strong contributions from junior Tina Gretlund, sophomore Brooke Taflinger and freshman Erin Smith. Gretlund won the 200-yard butterfly and placed second in both the 100-butterfly and 400-individual medley. Taflinger placed second in both the 200-freestyle with a season best 1:52.79 and in the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:21.43, a season best and fifth-fastest all-time for IU swimmers. She also won the 400-IM with the sixth-fastest time in school history of 4:22.66. Smith placed second in the 100-free and won the 100-butterfly with the seventh-fastest time in IU history of 56.89.\nTierney was delighted to see consistency in her team's performance from their previous meet and looks for that to help them come spring championship season.\n"Their consistency from two weeks ago makes me happier because they are confident in how they are racing and doing it the same way each time," she said. "That is going to benefit them the most at the end of the season because then it is so automatic when you are rested, in shape and ready to go. It is huge to have that confidence going into the big championship meets."\nThe Hoosier divers also displayed their strength over the Hawkeyes, placing 1-2-3 in both the one-meter and three-meter events. Senior Erin Quinn won the one-meter competition with a score of 270.38. The Iowa meet was Quinn's first competition of the year as she is coming back from injuries and is still battling bicep tendinitis. Head coach Dr. Jeff Huber was pleased with how far Quinn had come with just one week of practice.\n"She hadn't dove for three months," Huber said. "This is the first week she has done very limited diving, but she's tough so I knew she would show up and perform well. That certainly is not her best effort, but for as little training as she has been able to do we just wanted to get her some competitive experience this year."\nComing off her redshirt year to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics, junior Sara Reiling returned to the boards for the Hoosiers for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Reiling scored a 293.70 in the three-meter competition to win that event. Reiling dove in exhibition in the one-meter competition, but posted a score of 305.48 to reclaim her school record for a dual meet. Sophomore Cassandra Cardinell had taken the lead from Reiling with a score of 304.80 at Northwestern two weeks ago. Reiling hit a reverse 2 1/2 tuck and a reverse 2 1/2 twister, each new dives, to secure the record.\n"I actually wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be," Reiling said of trying the new dives. "I have to perform them in a meet sometime, so I just decided to go out and do them. I will probably keep them after today; I don't think I could convince Jeff (Huber) not to."\nHuber said he thinks this Hoosier squad is ahead of last year's pace and envisions that this group of divers could be a very special team.\n"We are off to a great start," Huber said. "I think we are way ahead of where we were last year. We have the opportunity to have the best women's team we have ever had here."\nThe Hoosiers will return to the water as they host Cincinnati, Evansville and Texas A&M in the Indiana Invitational next Friday thru Sunday at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.