IU in first after two days

The IU women's swimming and diving team finished the first day at the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in a fourth place tie, but within eight points of co-leaders Wisconsin and Penn State. \nThursday night, the Hoosiers moved one step closer to a Big Ten Championship. \nIU scored points in several events on the night, moving the Hoosiers into first place with 220 points. The Wisconsin Badgers sit in second place, only two points behind the Hoosiers.\n"We were much better tonight," coach Dorsey Tierney said in a press release. "We had a lot of nerves this morning but once people started settling into the meet we were ready to start swimming really fast. I think they did that. All-in-all I'm pleased with today but we have to take it one session at a time."\nIU's effort was boosted tremendously in the final event of the night, the one-meter diving, when senior Sara Hildebrand and junior Cassandra Cardinell finished first and second, respectively. Hildebrand trailed Cardinell by over 50 points with only one dive remaining. But, the fifth-year senior showed why she was a four-time Big Ten Diver of the Week winner this season. Hildebrand nailed her final dive of the night, outdoing her teammate, 318.50-311.85.\nIU's junior class continued to perform well, as standout Meghan Medendorp finished second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23:00. Sophomore Tammy Kostner took seventh in the 50. Junior Sarah Fiden finished third in the 500-yard freestyle to net IU additional team points. Fiden's time was good enough to set a new school record at 4:45.36. \n"Time-wise, the (500 free) was very good," Fiden said. "I was very happy that I dropped a second from this morning. I wanted to get an 'A' (NCAA) cut and I got that out of the way. I didn't really swim it that smart. I took it out a little too fast and used a little too much legs but I gutted it out." \nJunior Brooke Taflinger continued the trend by setting another school record in the 200-yard individual medley. Taflinger won in the consolation finals with a time of 2:01.52.\n"I'm surprised," coach Jeff Huber in a statement. "We wanted to dive well, I just didn't know what places we would be in. Cassie definitely came up and shone like a star in the finals and Sara really handled the pressure of going in the number one seed and hanging on. She got off to a little bit of a rough start on her second dive but she handled the rest like a pro."\nFor the Hoosiers, the points continued to roll in. In the first event of Thursday's finals, the 200-yard freestyle relay team finished in a tie for third with Michigan. The team of sophomore Tammy Kostner, senior Anne Williams, sophomore Erin Smith, and Medendorp earned 31 points with a time of 1:32.17. The time was the fourth-fastest time in school history. But the Badger relay team won the event, setting a Big Ten record time of 1:30.36.\nIU went on to dominate the consolation finals of the 200-yard IM, as Taflinger and freshman Kristen Bradley finished first and second, respectively.\n"Brooke had a great 200 IM tonight," Tierney said. "She broke the school record. She had to work through some jitters and came back and did a great job tonight. Kristen Bradley did a great job as well." \nThe Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championship meet continues today with the preliminary events beginning at 11 a.m. The finals of those events begin at 7 p.m., where IU looks to expand on its slim lead.