Hoosiers to face Wildcats, Bearcats

The Hoosiers compete on the road for the second straight weekend tomorrow when they travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Wildcats and the Cincinnati Bearcats in a double dual meet. The competition comes on the heels of the Hoosiers' 1-1 record last weekend when they posted a win over Iowa, but a lost to the reigning Big Ten champions, Minnesota. \n"Our last meet was very, very good," head coach Kris Kirchner said. "We swam very well for the road trip. It's definitely always harder to swim in a pool that no one has swam in before, but we adjusted very well. We have to try and keep improving with every weekend."\nLeading the way for the Hoosiers last weekend were freshmen Murph Halasz and Richard Bryant. Halasz won the 200-yard butterfly and took second place in the 100-yard butterfly. Bryant won the 1000-yard freestyle and took second in the 500-yard freestyle. Junior David Schulze placed second in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events and senior Heath Montgomery set a team season best time in the 200-yard freestyle. \nTraditionally, the IU-Cincinnati rivalry has been a storied, if not one-sided affair. In 55 past meetings, the Hoosiers have won 51 of them, boasting a .927 winning percentage. The Hoosiers have had equal success against the Wildcats, winning nine of their ten all-time meetings. But the one loss came last season, when the Wildcats posted a 150-92 victory over the Hoosiers. \n"It's going to be very competitive," Kirchner said. "They have a good team in every event and we have a good team in every event, so it'll come down to close races and touching the wall first."\nThe Wildcats (2-4) are coming off of an impressive upset victory on Jan. 19 when they edged the No. 9 South Carolina Gamecocks by a 124-119 margin. The Bearcats beat Division III Kenyon 133-129 behind seven first place event finishes. \nOn the diving side of the competition, sophomore Marc Carlton took first place in the three-meter event and third place in the one-meter event against Minnesota and Iowa. Head coach Jeff Huber said Kentucky will provide a good challenge for Carlton and the rest of the team. \n"Kentucky has a great team. They have some great divers so it'll be a real good meet," Huber said. "It'll be a good tune up." \nSophomore Alex Burns placed fourth in the three-meter event last weekend. \n"I could've dove a lot better," Burns said. "I had trouble lining up my dives and getting them clean in the water."\nHuber said he expects Burns to have a breakthrough performance in one of IU's upcoming meets.\n"He's just about ready to bust out and have an unbelievable performance," Huber said. \nThe competition begins at 11 a.m. at the University of Kentucky's Lancaster Aquatics Center.