Hoosiers host Indiana Invitational

The undefeated IU men's swimming and diving team will play host to four other teams at the Indiana Invitational this weekend at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The Indiana Invitational is a three-day event that is set-up like a championship meet with preliminary races during the morning sessions and finals occurring in the early evening. \nIU (4-0, 3-0 in Big Ten) goes into this meet after upsetting the No. 20 ranked Northwestern Wildcats with a score of 158-140. \nThe invitational is different than a dual meet because the swimmers will be able to swim "off" events and a lot more events. In a dual meet, a coach puts together what will be the fastest line-up to win the meet. Not every Hoosier has swam every event thus far in the season that they are capable of. First year IU coach Ray Looze said this meet will give the swimmers a chance to experiment a little bit in different events, but that does not mean they will not be swimming hard in the event.\n"We take every competition seriously," Looze said. "But we are going to explore where we might use guys in future dual meets."\nThe Hoosiers placed second in the invitational last season falling to Texas A&M, but this year the IU men are favored to win the event. Clemson University, University of Miami (Fla.), University of Evansville, and University of Cincinnati will round out the field at the invitational. Looze said the field of teams is not as competitive as last year, but will still be a good challenge for the Hoosiers. \nLooze said that Evansville is in a transition year with a new coaching staff so they are not as strong as they have been in years past. IU swept the Purple Aces earlier this season with a 135-106 victory. Looze added that Cincinnati has some very good athletes but no depth, and Clemson is solid but not strong. Miami is only bringing four swimmers to the invitational because their program is in the process of being dropped, but Looze said that their divers they will bring are some of the best in the country. \nThe Hoosiers have been continuing their work-outs since their last win over Northwestern to get ready for the invitational competition.\n"We have been training extra hard," junior Rob Dabrowski said. "We have been training up to standard in practice."\nThe diving team has been preparing for an intense and hard weekend as well. The invitational will give the divers a chance to feel out the competition that could potentially be at the championships at the end of the season, including a very talented Miami team. This meet will also allow divers to qualify for the championships in the collegiate events. \nCoach Jeff Huber said his team has been looking good in practice and he added he hopes all of them dive well this weekend. Huber also said he has rested his divers a little bit because this weekend will be demanding on them. The divers will compete in both the one-meter and three-meter competitions on Friday, then again on Saturday in an open one and three-meter event, and on Sunday on the platform, which could perhaps be the most exciting competition of the weekend. \n"This is going to be a very competitive meet," Huber said. "Anyone that comes to this meet is going to see some excellent diving and I hope we are a part of that excellent diving." \nThe men will be joined by the women's teams at the Indiana Invitational which kicks off this Friday with preliminary competitions beginning at 9:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The event will again take place at 9:30 a.m. for prelims and 6 p.m. for finals on Saturday, and 9:30 a.m. for prelims and 3:30 p.m. for finals on Sunday.