Team forges fifth-place finish

The dominating seasons of Minnesota and Michigan and surging performances from Penn State and Northwestern have the Hoosiers sitting in fifth place after the first day of the men's swimming and diving Big Ten Championships. \nThe Gophers lead the way with 197 points, followed by Michigan (167), Penn State (157), Northwestern (134) and IU (122). \n"This is a very intense swimming conference," IU men's swimming coach Kris Kirchner said. "It's one of the best in the (nation) and it's going to remain that way. Every team raced real tough -- it's nitty-gritty."\nAfter a preliminary round in the day in which the Hoosiers set 16 career bests, the evening finals opened with the 200-free relay. The squad of sophomores Dale Ramsy, Claes Andersson and Mike Payne and freshman Nicolas Burgess swam to a season-best and NCAA B qualifying time of 1:19.29. That was good for a fourth-place finish, but Penn State won the event in 1:18.69.\nNo Hoosiers made the finals in the 500-yard freestyle, in part because of the depth and dominance of Minnesota and Michigan. In the finals, the Gophers and Wolverines each sent three competitors to the eight-person field. In the end, Wolverine sophomore Daniel Ketchum won the event, and Gopher sophomore Justin Mortimer took second.\nIn the 200-yard individual medley, IU junior co-captain David Schulze just made the cut for the consolation round, going in with the eighth and final seed. He didn't waste the opportunity and swam to a second-place finish with a season-best 1:49.90 time. \n"That was a good, impressive swim," Kirchner said. "His preliminary swim was a little off, but he came back and got a good time in that tonight."\nThe 50-yard freestyle proved to be the Hoosiers' best event, as sprinters Andersson and Ramsy both made it to the finals. Andersson placed third with a season-best 19.93 while Ramsy took fifth with in 20.09. Penn State senior Robert Molettiere and junior Eugene Botes took the first two spots. \n"It was a very close race, but Penn State got it," Kirchner said. "Claes had a great swim, his best. Dale didn't have quite his best, but they swam well and scored some points. But the bottom line is, we've got to get better."\nIn the night's final swimming event, the 400-yard medley relay, the Hoosier squad of sophomore backstroker Matt Leach, breaststroker Schulze, freshman butterflier Murph Halasz and freestyler\nAndersson finished in fourth place. \nMinnesota took first in the event to cement its first-day lead. \n"We're very pleased with our performance," Minnesota coach Dennis Dale said. "We weren't perfect, but a lot of things went very well for us. We were hoping to be close to the lead after the first day, and it's really gratifying to actually be out in front after the first day."\nFor the day, the Hoosiers qualified three swimmers for individual final events, a number that Schulze said needs to go up if the Hoosiers want to perform better.\n"I think we were good, but not great out there today," Schulze said. "We have a lot of things that we can do better and get more guys in the finals."\nDale said even with his team leading, the Big Ten championship is still very much up in the air.\n"I am a nervous nelly; I am never confident," Dale said. "I know that Michigan has a great team. We have a lead, but that could evaporate with the snap of a finger."\nOn the diving side of the competition, the Hoosiers competed in the one-meter event. Sophomore Marc Carlton placed fifth while teammate junior Adam Hazes placed eighth. Carlton was among the leaders in the event going into his sixth and final dive but missed it. \n"Marc really had the championship going into that last round," IU coach Jeff Huber said. "He went after it with a lot of determination. He was going to win it but missed it in the right way. But I couldn't be happier. We had a good day in what is not one of our better events. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."\nCarlton said he was pleased with his performance and looks forward to the rest of the meet. \n"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to win one-meter; I feel like that's my worst board," Carlton said. "They\nalways say you never want to win prelims, and I feel like today was my prelims for my better events. I feel real good for three-meter and platforms."\nOhio State junior Heath Knowling won the one-meter event with a 342.15 score. \nThe competition continues today at noon for the preliminaries and 7 p.m. for the finals.