IU swims to 11th-place national finish

As the IU women’s swimming and diving team traveled to Minneapolis for the NCAA championships, its sights were set on a top-10 finish. Although an 11th-place finish was just short of the goal, it was still plenty of cause for excitement. \n“I’m really proud of the girls,” swimming coach Ray Looze said. “They fought hard throughout the whole meet. We ended up falling a little bit short of our goal, but you can never be disappointed with an 11th-place finish at the NCAAs.”\nIU finished the meet with 109.5 points and earned its fourth consecutive top-15 performance. \nSenior Leila Vaziri was the top finisher on the swimming side. Vaziri took third place in the 100-yard backstroke. \nFreshman Presley Bard and sophomore Allison Kay swam to new school records in their respective events. Bard finished ninth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:55.12 and Kay tied for 10th place in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:12.30. \nOn the diving side, IU just missed national titles in two events. Senior Lindsay Weigle finished second on the platform, just 1.30 points out of first, and junior Christina Loukas took second on the 1-meter, just 1.20 points behind the winner. On the 3-meter, Weigle placed fifth, and Loukas placed ninth. \nThe NCAA meet marked the end of a memorable NCAA season for the Hoosiers. An undefeated dual-meet season and a Big Ten title left Looze with lasting memories. \n“The best memory for me was the look on the girls’ faces when they won the Big Tens,” he said. “It was priceless.”\nThe men’s swimming and diving team also finished its NCAA season this weekend at the NCAA championships in Minneapolis. \nThe Hoosiers swam to a 15th-place finish with 72 points, making it the fourth consecutive top-20 performance. \nJunior Ben Hesen became the first IU swimmer in 28 years to swim in the final of two individual events. Hesen took second place in the 100-yard backstroke and finished eighth in the 200-yard backstroke. \n“Ben had an excellent meet,” Looze said. “He has gotten used to swimming in pressure situations. He was physically and mentally prepared for this meet, and he really set himself up to win a national championship next year.”\nJunior Pat Penoyar added a 12th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Steven Murry finished 13th in the 400-yard individual medley. \nThe 200-yard medley team finished in ninth place, and the 400-yard medley team took 11th. \nThe Hoosiers earned 13 All-American citations for their efforts. Hesen led the way with four. Penoyar added three. \n“We are very pleased with our finish,” Looze said. “We had seven guys swimming in the meet, and six were named all-Americans. With the personnel we had, we couldn’t be happier. All of the guys are returning next year, so we’ll take forward a lot of experience as well.”