Athletes take last shot at qualifying for NCAAs\nNotre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitational served as the final shot at qualifying for next weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships for several men's track athletes.\nFreshman sprinter David Neville took home the Hoosiers' sole victory from the meet, winning the 200-meters in a time of 21.08, a personal indoor best. Neville's winning time improved his national ranking, though whether he will qualify for the NCAA meet in the 200-meters remains undetermined. Regardless, Neville will run the 400-meter leg of IU's No. 3 ranked NCAA-bound distance medley relay.\nJunior Ryan Ketchum threw a sizable personal best of 18.56 meters in the shot put, improving from his Big Ten Indoor performance of 17.80 meters. It remains unclear whether his 18.56 mark will qualify him for the NCAA Championships.\nIn the 5,000-meters, senior All-American Chris Powers finished fourth in a season-best time of 14:06, while sophomore Stephen Haas finished ninth in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14:14. \nJunior Russell Hollis finished 12th in the 800-meters with a time of 1:52.78. \nAlong with the distance medley relay team, including sophomore Eric Redman and junior Rodney Hollis, IU has already qualified sophomore All-American Sean Jefferson in the mile. Qualifying athletes will be back in action next weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Indoor Championships.\nTwo athletes take advantage of 'Last Chance' invitational \nBefore the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championship last weekend, IU junior Lauren Chesnut guaranteed she would break her own school record in the triple-jump in the Big Ten Indoor Championship. This guarantee came a week late, as Chesnut set a new record in this weekend's Alex Wilson Invitational.\nThe Hoosiers sent a limited number of athletes to South Bend this weekend in a "last chance" attempt to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship, to be held in Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend.\nChesnut won the triple-jump with a jump of 13.04 meters, provisionally qualifying her for this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championship and ranking her in the top 20 in the nation, according to the latest list entering this past weekend. Chesnut came close to automatically qualifying, as the automatic qualifying mark in the triple-jump is 13.30 meters.\nChesnut's previous school record was 13.02 meters.\nIU senior Audrey Giesler competed in the 5,000-meter run and finished in eighth with a time of 17:13.45.\nIU junior Christina Archibald set a new personal best and placed third in the high jump after clearing 1.73 meters. \nIU sophomore Andrea Dalla Rosa placed second in the shot put, earning a NCAA provisional mark and a new season best by throwing 15.04 meters.\nMen's golf finishes one shot out of first\nAfter two rounds at the St. Croix Collegiate Classic, the IU men's golf team led by one stroke over Southeastern Louisiana, but the Hoosiers couldn't hold off a third day rally by Fresno State, which took the championship and left the Hoosiers in second, one shot off the pace.\nFriday morning, the Hoosiers got off to a quick start, shooting a team score of 290 to take a one-shot lead over Xavier in the tournament's opening round. The juniors from Evansville, Mike Birkenfeld and Jeff Overton, led the Hoosiers for day one. Birkenfeld's two-under-par 70 was the best Hoosier score of the day, and Overton was on his heels with a one-under-par 71. Sophomore Scott Seibert, returning to the lineup after suffering a broken nose, shot a 73 to help the cause.\nThe Hoosiers continued to play strong Saturday by shooting a team score of 294. Overton fired a 69, putting him in a two-way tie for second with Fresno State senior Chad Spencer. Birkenfeld's second-day 75 kept him in the top ten. Senior Ryan Cassidy recovered from an opening-round 76 with a 73. After two rounds, the Hoosiers still held a one-stroke lead, this time over Southeastern Louisiana.\nBut nothing could stop a late Fresno State rally. The Bulldogs shot a final round 289 to jump from a two-way tie for fourth to the championship. Spencer, who shot a three-day total of 214, would go on to beat Xavier senior Miles Maillet in a playoff to take the individual title. Overton was once again the lowest-scoring Hoosier, shooting 216, good enough for a four-way tie for fourth.\nHe would have preferred a win, but IU coach Mike Mayer still liked what he saw from his team.\n"We got off to a good start, but we had a rough middle stretch of holes that cost us the tournament," Mayer said in a statement. "I'm very pleased. We learned a lot this trip, and I'm proud of the kids and the way they competed."\nThe Hoosiers will return to action March 19 and 20 when they head to Phoenix for the Steve Kerr Invitational.\nHoosiers land four wrestlers in NCAA Tournament \nThe Indiana wrestling team had a successful weekend in Columbus, Ohio, the site of this year's Big Ten Tournament. Four IU grapplers, almost half the team, battled their way through the highly-competitive field to advance to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks in St. Louis. Two third place finishes, one fourth place finish and a fifth place showing highlighted IU's effort.\nSenior Coyte Cooper earned third-place at 141 pounds, coming back from a 10-8 overtime defeat in the opening match to march on to his fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Cooper then proceeded to win his next four matches, besting Wisconsin's Tyler Laudon 4-2. Junior Pat DeGain also scored a third place result at 197 pounds, going 3-1 over the day-two event. DeGain beat Northwestern's Matt Delguyd by pin fall 3:32 into the match to receive third. Sophomore Joe Dubuque scored a fourth place by going 4-2 on the weekend. Dubuque lost to Illinois's Kyle Ott 6-4 in the third-place match at 125 pounds, but his showing was good enough to advance to the nationals. Sophomore Brady Richardson rounded out the impressive Hoosier performance by also going 4-2 at the tournament to receive fifth place. DeGain, Dubuque and Richardson will all be making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament, which is slated for March 20 and 21 in St. Louis. \nWater Polo opens conference play\nThe No. 10 Hoosiers kicked off Collegiate Water Polo Association western division conference play this weekend at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center Saturday. It marked the first home games of the year, as they faced Slippery Rock, Grove City and No. 8 rival Michigan. \nIU began the day against a weaker Grove City squad, resulting in a 13-2 victory. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 9-0 lead early on and never looked back, as they allowed only two goals for the match. Junior Kandace Waldthaler led the Hoosiers in scoring with three goals, her third three-goal game of the year. IU defenders had a field day, as they tallied 17 steals for the match. \nThe Hoosiers offense continued its attack on the opposition in the second match of the day against Slippery Rock. IU scored a season-high 18 goals, winning in impressive fashion, 18-3. Every Hoosier that saw action registered at least a point in the match, either with a goal or an assist. Freshman Kara Woolley led the Hoosiers on the offensive end with four goals. \nIn the nightcap, IU took on rival Michigan. The Hoosiers faced the Wolverines for the second time of the season, as they looked for revenge after an earlier 4-2 loss at the Michigan Invitational. IU was unsuccessful again in its quest to go undefeated for the weekend, as it fell 4-1 to the Wolverines. Wolverine goalkeeper Betsey Anderson had an outstanding day at goal, as she notched 22 saves for the match.
Sh: IU gets two wins on home courts\nSh: Hoosiers sweep opponents on home courts\nIn its first weekend facing two unranked teams since early January, the IU women's tennis team showed why they have jumped 50 spots in the ITA national rankings. IU successfully defended its home courts in two blowout wins Saturday against DePaul and Ball State.\nThe weekend sweep moves IU to 8-3 this spring season, with only two pre-conference matches remaining before the rigorous Big Ten schedule. \nIn the Hoosiers' first match, IU won five of six singles and two of three doubles matches en route to a 6-1 victory over the DePaul Blue Devils. Senior Karie Schlukebir and junior Dora Vastag started things off with a quick win in the number three doubles position, downing the Devil duo 8-1. Soon after its opening win, IU secured the doubles point when senior Linda Tran and sophomore Sarah Batty defeated DePaul's number one doubles team 8-2. IU rounded out its two-game homestand with a 7-0 drubbing of Ball State. IU completely dismantled the Cardinals, with the only close match in a the form of an 8-5 Martina Grimm and McGaffigan doubles win.\nNext up for the Hoosiers is a pair of nationally-ranked teams, as they go on the road during spring break. IU takes on No. 16 Texas A&M March 16 before traveling to Ft. Worth, Texas to do battle with No. 44 Texas Christain University.
sh: Softball splits in Arizona\nThe IU softball team split its four games this weekend in the University of Arizona Hillenbrand Invitational. \nThe team defeated Northern Iowa and North Texas before losing to the two ranked teams, No. 2 Arizona and No. 24 Georgia Tech.\nFriday's action started off with a cancellation of the scheduled game against University of Texas-El Paso due to rain. The second game of the day, however, was played, and IU took advantage of the weather shift by downing Northern Iowa 8-0 in five innings. Freshman catcher Tory Yamaguchi led the onslaught, going 2-3, including a three run home-run. Fellow freshman outfielder Kim Richards went 1-3 with two RBI's of her own. Sophomore pitchers Megan Roark and Mariangee Bogado combined for seven strikeouts and one hit allowed for the game.\nThe Hoosiers wouldn't see another hit for the rest of the tournament, as Arizona's Alicia Hollowell and Georgia Tech's Jessica Sallinger and Sara Wood blanked the Hoosiers hit-wise in two straight games. The two losses dropped IU's overall record to 7-11.\nThe Hoosiers will be home next weekend for the IU Classic March 13 through 14.
