IU finishes 4th at Big Ten championships

School records fell and personal bests were shattered as the IU men’s swimming and diving team competed in the Big Ten championships in Columbus, Ohio. But the individual accomplishments were not enough to erase the disappointment of a fourth-place finish. \n“We had some outstanding individual performances,” swimming coach Ray Looze said. “I couldn’t have been more pleased with a number of our swimmers. As a team, it was pretty disappointing. From a coaching standpoint and a swimming standpoint, we just didn’t get the job done to comfortably finish where we should have.”\nIU competed in the Big Ten championships last weekend at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The Hoosiers finished in fourth with 494 points, just one point behind third place Ohio State. Minnesota finished first with 612.5 points and Michigan was runner up with 608.5 points. \nJunior Ben Hesen set a school record in the 100-yard backstroke with his opening leg of the 400-yard medley relay during the first day of the championships. \nHesen didn’t let his record stand for long. The next day he broke his own record, swimming to a time of 45.52 and a first place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.\n“It feels great to win, but it also feels great to win for my team,” Hesen said. “My favorite part of winning was looking over and seeing my teammates support and cheer for me.” \nThe Hoosiers were also led by junior Pat Penoyar and sophomore Nick Walkotten. Penoyar notched second place results in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, swimming to a career best time of 53.67 in the 100. \nWalkotten also finished second in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, breaking his own-school record in the 100 with a time of 47.21. \nThe 200-yard medley relay team of Hesen, Penoyar, Walkotten and freshman Matt Lenton touched in second place with a time of 1:26.04, the second best time in school history. \nOn the diving side, the Hoosiers got off to a slow start on the one-meter board. Junior Taylor Roberts was the top finisher with a 10th place finish. \n“We were definitely surprised with our performance on the first day,” diving coach Jeff Huber said. “Our whole team was a little off. It was a bit of a shock.”\nIU rebounded with good performances on the 3-meter board and platform. Roberts finished second on the 3-meter with a score of 405.75, only one point out of first. On the platform, junior David Legler finished second with a score of 377.2. Roberts followed in 5th with a score of 340.95 and sophomore Will Bohonyi placed 7th with a score of 327.9. \nThe Hoosiers hope to use the disappointment they feel now as motivation for a strong showing at the NCAA championships. \n“We are not pleased with 4th place,” Huber said. “We’ll train harder this week and hopefully we’ll have a better performance on the one meter at NCAAs.”\nLooze knows that missing third place by one point is a bitter feeling that will linger for a while, but he hopes his team can learn from it.\n“It’s almost fitting that we missed third by one point,” Looze said. “As a coach, that gives me the opportunity to teach. We’ll address the team aspect and get back to the drawing board. With our individual performances, I’m excited for our chances at NCAAs.”