Team snags 16 championship

The No. 15 IU women's swimming and diving team played host to an elite contingent of athletes during the IU Open Invitational this weekend at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. \nThe Hoosiers faced contestants from several universities, including Arkansas, Cincinnati, Hawaii, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Toledo. This year, the IU Invitational was altered to eliminate the naming of a team champion and given "open" status in order for more swimmers and divers to participate in the meet.\nOn Friday, the Hoosiers seemed as if they needed more time to wake up in the morning during the preliminary session. \n"It was a matter of lack of motivation and lack of goals, but we rectified that with a team meeting," IU head coach Ray Looze said. \nDuring the final round Friday, senior Kristen Bradley captured the 200-yard individual medley crown in a blurring 2:04:36. Claiming an event title with Bradley were freshmen Allison Kay and Sarah Stockwell and juniors Annica Lofstedt and Leila Vaziri, as they cranked out a 3:48:76 finish in the 400-yard medley relay. \nPittsburgh made its presence known as the Panthers snagged three event titles compared to IU's two.\nThe Hoosiers heated up the following morning as IU snatched 23 championship and consolation swims during the second set of preliminaries. \nIn the ensuing 3-meter dive competition, junior Lindsay Weigle finished second to Hawaii's Qiong Jie Huang with a score of 328.30, her new personal best in the event.\nDuring the evening's finals, IU's accumulation of five titles was highlighted by the performances of Lofstedt and Vaziri, as the two seized three titles apiece. \nKay, Stockwell, Lofstedt and Vaziri exploded to a 1:44:02 finish in the 200-yard medley relay to commence the final round of day two, which now stands as the ninth-fastest time in school history in the event.\nIn the 400-yard IM, Bradley streamlined her way to a first place finish in 4:19:50, surpassing the NCAA provisional qualifying threshold.\n"I'm really happy with my times," she said. \nLofstedt continued to prove she had the endurance not just to compete, but also dominate in her loaded agenda of events after winning the 100-yard butterfly with a B-cut time of 55:14, enhancing her own fourth-best time in school history.\nAfter Vaziri snagged the 100-yard backstroke title with 56:24, the Hoosiers ended the second day on a high note, as the quartet of Bradley, junior Clarissa Wentworth, Lofstedt and Vaziri claimed first place in the 800-yard freestyle relay.\nOn the final day of the IU Open Invitational, the Hoosiers were responsible for 16 championship and consolation swims after a strong showing in Sunday's prelims. IU will next face Northwestern at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 in Evanston, Ill. The Hoosiers will then head to Nassau, Bahamas, for a training trip alongside the men's team.