Men's swim wins two big meets

The No. 25 IU men's swimming and diving team (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) finished out their dual meet season this past weekend with two victories after being the underdogs going into both meets. \nThe seniors led the Hoosiers in their last meet at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center where they defeated Kentucky 135-102 on Senior Night this past Friday. They then traveled to No. 18 Purdue on Saturday and came out with a close victory 127-116. \nAgainst the Wildcats, sophomore Richard Bryant won both the 1,000- and 200-yard freestyle events, while junior Claes Andersson was victorious in both the 50- and 100-yard free. Sophomore Murph Halasz was victorious in the 200 butterfly, and junior Matt Leach won the 200 back. All-American junior Marc Carlton beat out Kentucky senior All-American Clayton Moss on the three-meter competition with a score of 379.13. Senior Adam Hazes was able to finish out his dual meet career at home by finishing second on platform with a score of 311.33. \n"I thought Kentucky was ranked," coach Ray Looze said in a statement. "They must be just on the fringe of the rankings. We are two evenly matched teams. This was the closest we've come this year to a complete victory. Kentucky was missing one of their best swimmers, and I believe that we still would have won, but the margin would have been closer."\nAt Purdue, the Hoosiers started out slow placing second in the 400-yard medley relay. During the 200 IM event, two Boilermaker swimmers false started, but the event was not stopped. The officials said the false start equipment malfunctioned, and if the meet was in doubt, the event would be re-swum at the end of the meet. The meet remained close throughout and when it was re-sum, senior Dave Schulze and Halasz were able to go 2-3 to maintain the Hoosier lead. Schulze swam a time of 1:51.93 while Halasz went 1:53.19.\nBryant continued his dominance of the distance events as he won both the 500 free and 1000 free. Halasz and Bryant went 1-2 in the 200 butterfly. Halasz claimed first with a time of 1:49.22, and Bryant followed him in at 1:51.21.\nThe Hoosier sprinting contingent was in full force against the Boilermakers. Junior Mike Payne won the 50 free with a time of 20.76. Andersson and Payne went 1-2 in the 100 free. Andersson won the 100 free with a time of 45.98, while Payne placed second at 46.74. \nThe diving events helped the Hoosiers claim their victory as the team went 1-2-3 in the one-meter and 1-2 in the three-meter. Carlton won both events as he scored 363.00 on the one-meter, which was a season high. Hazes was second in both events, while freshman Brian Mariano placed third on the one-meter. \n"I was so proud of the guys today," Looze said in a statement. "It was really a bizarre meet in that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We didn't start well at all. We didn't win the 400 medley relay like we wanted to, but from the 200 butterfly on we dominated. (Purdue) was the better team coming in, they were the higher ranked, deeper and all that. We were fortunate to come away with a victory. The guys really dug deep and swam with a lot of heart. They got the job done today, and hopefully we can carry this momentum into the Big Ten Championships in three weeks." \nThe Hoosiers will compete next at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. The event will be held Thursday, Feb. 27, Friday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1.