Hoosiers battle in-state rival Purdue

IU senior swimmer Christie Fuchs has a clear goal in mind when her team travels to West Lafayette this weekend to face Purdue.\nThe goal: “Pretty much dominating the meet in spirit and in the pool,” she said. “Obviously, Purdue’s a rival of ours, so we want to beat them badly.”\nThe Hoosiers (1-5) will be looking to close out its dual-meet season with a victory against in-state rival Purdue (5-8) at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The meet begins tomorrow at 1 p.m.\nThe Boilermakers, who have had several more dual meets than IU, also have shared two common opponents with the Hoosiers. Purdue lost to Northwestern and Notre Dame in dual meets. IU defeated Northwestern in its only dual-meet victory and topped the Fighting Irish in a championship format two weeks ago.\n“I think we stack up really well against them,” Fuchs said. “They’re not as strong as they have been in the past. We’re pretty much going to dominate them if we swim the way we’re capable.”\nIU coach Ray Looze was more cautious, warning that any Big Ten team presents a challenge.\n“It’s going to be a really challenging meet for us,” Looze said. “Obviously we’ve struggled in our dual meets this season but (the Boilermakers) present a big challenge because they’re a very solid team across the board from swimming to diving.”\nThe divers must compete against Ashley Karnes, who extended her springboard winning streak to six against Miami (Ohio) last week. She has yet to lose in the 1-meter or 3-meter events in 2008. \nIU’s sophomore star Kate Zubkova, who has swept the backstroke events in the past two meets, will be challenged by Boilermaker freshman Allie Smith who posted an NCAA provisional time in the 100-yard backstroke last week. Zubkova has an ‘A’ standard time of 54.18 in that event.\n“We certainly have the capability to (win),” Looze said. “And if we swim up to our potential that’s what I expect. We need to go up to Purdue and take care of business at their home pool where they are very tough.”\nThe team’s overall goal is to be well prepared for the Big Ten Championships in late February. Although the swimmers want to beat their rivals this week, they are putting the meet in perspective.\n“We do want to beat them either way,” freshman swimmer Ashley Kranz said. “But we’re just out there trying to have some good races and get ready for Big Ten’s and just tighten up on everything.” \nIU will also look to jump into the coaches’ top-25 poll with a win this week. The defending Big Ten champion Hoosiers started the season ranked, but fell out of the polls after a 1-4 record during the first semester. After an impressive win at the Notre Dame Invitational and a close loss against then-No. 9 Tennessee, IU was just outside the Jan. 18 poll.\n“We’ve built a team that is a lot stronger at the end of the season,” Kranz said. “So each meet we’ve been getting a lot better and we’re hoping by Big Ten’s we’ll be able to nail everything and be really strong.”