IU narrowly finishes 2nd in Big Tens by .54 seconds

It was a two-team race heading into the final event of the Big Ten Championships.\nBut .54 of a second eventually decided the closest men's swimming and diving Big Ten Championship since 1948.\nThe Hoosiers finished a close second after coming less than a second away from winning their first Big Ten title in 20 years.\n"We fought hard and that was very impressive to come this close to Minnesota when they have more talent than us," said IU coach Ray Looze. "We just have to wait until next year."\nThe Hoosiers finished second overall with 717 points, three points shy of Minnesota's first place tally of 720.\n"It is bittersweet right now," said IU diving coach Jeff Huber. "We could be racking our brains to find the three points, but we would go nuts if we did that."\nFollowing sophomore Colin Russell's fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, IU was down 82 points to the Gophers. Junior Kevin Swander won his second individual Big Ten title in the 200-yard breaststroke and in the process, improved his own school record. In the 200-yard butterfly, senior Murph Halasz placed second with senior Richard Bryant and sophomore Scott Tanner finishing fourth and sixth respectively. \n"I just wanted to go out there and have a good time during the race," said Swander, who received First Team All-Big Ten honors. "I really wanted to do well for the team because the team comes first. The team scores were in the back of my mind, and it pushed me harder to win."\nThe entire championship came down to the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay. At that point, IU generated a five-point lead after taking four out of the top five spots in the platform diving final. Senior diver Marc Carlton took home the platform diving championship, breaking school and pool records, as well as the three-meter diving championship the night before, breaking the Big Ten and school records.\n"I was really confident heading into tonight's competition and that was confirmed by the way I was diving," Carlton said. He also received Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championships along with First Team All-Big Ten honors. \nThe 400-yard freestyle was as close as anyone could have imagined. Minnesota's quartet took first in the event by .54 of a second with a Big Ten record performance with IU taking third. \n"I told the guys going in that we had to get into third place to have a chance and hope that Northwestern could pull it off," Looze said. "Unfortunately, Northwestern couldn't pull it off and Minnesota set a Big Ten record to win."\nHalasz, Russell, freshman Ben Hesen and sophomore Lee Houchin earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors to go along with their personal and school records. Other Hoosiers took home hardware as IU diving coach Jeff Huber received Diving Coach of the Year.\nIn the end, the IU men's swimming and diving still look to build off this close finish heading into the NCAA Championships a month from now.\n"Overall, we gained some valuable experience and learned how hard you have to work to win." Looze said. "We are in a nice position for next year when we host the meet."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Evan Harris at evharris@indiana.edu.