IU divers lead Hoosiers to 2nd place breaking records along the way

A small group of black shirts that read "small but mighty" gathered around the diving well Saturday at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.\nThe IU swimmers quietly waited as their only hope for second place in the Big Ten Championships balanced on her hands 10 meters above them.\nThe shirts read "small but mighty" because IU entered the weekend with a squad of 22 women, not even enough to enter every swimming event. The team's lack of swimmers put added pressure on the IU divers, but by the time senior Cassandra Cardinell hit the pool for the Hoosiers' final dive, the team had secured 497 points and second place in the Big Ten.\n"We swam pretty tough, and our momentum got down, and it is hard to bring it back up with the small team we have," said IU coach Dorsey Tierney.\nPenn State's depth and power were too great for the rest of the field. The Nittany Lions barely needed to show up for the final day, as they locked up the Big Ten Championship after Saturday's first event.\n"We wanted to do our best, and the effort we put forth really shows, and we believed in ourselves that we could win this, and that is what happened," said Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott before hitting the pool with his team in celebration.\nIU brought five divers to the platform finals, and they needed to perform well to bring IU back into contention for taking second in the Big Ten Championships. Cardinell took the crown with a score of 539.15, sophomore Lindsay Weigle took third with 511.80, freshman Christina Loukas took fourth with 474.85, freshman Jade Summerlin took seventh, and sophomore Heather Chapman took eighth. \n"They did a great job, and it was great to see five divers of ours in the finals," said IU diving coach Jeff Huber. "We were off a little here and there. Cassie did a great job here, and to keep the lead throughout is a tough thing." \nThe last dive of the championships also would be the last dive of Cardinell's career in the Aquatic Center.\n"It's a great send off," Cardinell said. "I have never won a 10-meter championship. It's a great way to end my Big Ten career."\nDiving bumped IU back to second place with 467 points, and the 400-yard freestyle relay ultimately would determine where the Hoosiers would land. IU came away from the event placing fourth, giving the team enough points to stay in second place for the final standings of the 2005 Big Ten Championships.\n"We had some bright spots," Tierney said. "We came out of here a better team despite some of our performances."\nSophomore Leila Vaziri captured IU's first and only swimming crown with a time of 53.64 in the 100-yard backstroke -- a new pool record. \n"I had great competition that motivated me, and the whole meet I was pumped up for this event, and this was my best," Vaziri said. "Two-hundred-yard backstroke is a little more difficult, and I have been training for it all year long." \nIn the 200-yard, Vaziri had a chance to sweep the backstroke crowns but fell short, taking sixth in the event with the second fastest time in school history of 1:59.07. \n"My 100 is my strongest event, and I came in here and swam and took it out," Vaziri said. "I am happy with my time, and it is an improvement."\nAt the end of the night, the Big Ten honored Loukas, naming her Big Ten Diver of the Championship, as well as Diver of the Year. Her coach, Huber, received Diving Coach of the Year, the ninth of his career.\nLoukas won the one-meter diving event earlier in the week and finished second in the three-meter, leading IU in both events. Loukas and Cardinell both represented the Hoosiers on the All-Big Ten First Team.\nThe small and mighty team now shifts its attention to the NCAA Championship, which begins March 17. \n"We have a time trial next week, and we'll try to get more people qualified for the NCAA Championships," Tierney said. "We are going to spend the next four weeks training."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Doug \nKlausen at dklausen@indiana.edu.