Men fly, women struggle in swim meet at Kentucky

Coming off of Thanksgiving break, the IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were determined to keep their focus. However, they experienced mixed results in their first meet back against Kentucky. \nThe men scored an impressive 186-114 victory over their SEC opponent, while the women lost 164-134. \n“They were a very good team,” said head coach Ray Looze. “That is probably the best women’s team they’ve ever had.”\nThe women were shorthanded for the meet, as they were missing three key contributors. \nThe Hoosiers will have to get used to the absence of sophomore Ashley Jones, who might be out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Meanwhile, fellow sophomores Brittany Barwegen and Cassie Luhrsen also missed the meet.\n“Losing three people is hard,” Luhrsen said. “We definitely would have been a lot closer.”\nThe team hung tough after losing both medley relays to open the meet, but they weren’t able to get the victory. However, there were still some positives in fighting through adversity.\n“We really fought hard,” Looze said. “It was just awesome to see them fight like that. We were right there with two events to go.”\nSophomore Presley Bard led the way with top finishes in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. She also finished with a season-best time of 23.91 seconds in 50-yard freestyle. \nSophomore Donna Smailis also notched two season-high times en route to second-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. \nThe Hoosiers took the top three spots in the 200-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Amilee Smith added to the list of season bests by winning the event, while junior Sarah Stockwell and freshman Jessica Hill finished just behind. \nThe men also struggled early in the meet. They found themselves in a surprising hole after losing both medley relays, two events they have dominated \nall season. \nThe Hoosiers tried to change some things by moving senior Todd Patrick from the 200-yard medley relay to the 400-yard freestyle medley relay. \n“We tried to do too much,” Looze said. “We spread ourselves a little too thin.”\nThe wins gave the Wildcats confidence that they could spring the upset.\n“They came out guns blazing, and it was a real blow to the team,” freshman Bart Ginocchio said. \nBut the Hoosiers swam almost flawlessly afterwards, as they won the next 12 events and blew out Kentucky.\n“I’ve never had a team lose both relays and go out there and win like that,” Looze said.\nSenior Ben Hesen was his usual dominant self, winning three individual events. Senior John Kevin Koehler also stepped up and took home the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. \nSenior Alex Brunfeldt likely had his best meet of the young season. He finished second to Koehler in the 500-yard freestyle and also shaved 10 seconds off his season-best time in a dominating victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle. \nThe Hoosiers now head into winter break with no meets until January. They plan to spend a week in mid-December training in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and they will look to keep getting better.\n“Just being around each other a lot will help our team chemistry,” Looze said.\nThe men’s and women’s teams both learned a lot about themselves in the Kentucky meet. The men battled back from a hole to gain a resounding win, while the women came together in the absence of three key swimmers. \n“We’re doing well right now,” Ginocchio said. “We’re getting healthier and starting to round into form. But we have a lot more work to do.”