Around sports

Track and field
Hoosiers claim titles at Penn Relays

IU track and field ended a four-year drought over the weekend at the Penn Relays.

For the first time since 2006, a Hoosier was crowned champion at the Philadelphia meet, which is the oldest and largest track meet in America.

Senior Sarah Pease won the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:16.51 while racing against some of the best competition the Hoosiers have faced all season.

Sophomore Derek Drouin added another first place finish by winning the high jump with a leap of 2.22 meters.

Overall, the Hoosiers finished with 14 top-five finishes in a meet that featured athletes such as three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.

IU coach Ron Helmer knew this weekend was going to be the toughest event for his team outside of the post season.

“We had a number of individuals who were up to the challenge of competing against some of the top competition in the country,” Helmer said.  “It was probably some of the toughest competition some of these kids are going to face all season.”

During the last day of the meet, the IU 4 x Mile relay team ran a time of 16.20.90 to record the third fastest time in IU history. The mark was also .49 seconds out of second place in the race.

— Avi Zaleon

Water polo
Michigan claims ninth-consecutive divisional title with win against IU

The IU women’s water polo team finished well in Collegiate Water Polo Association Western Division Championship, and the No. 15 Hoosiers are ready for another round of postseason play.         

On Saturday, in meeting with Mercyhurst College, the Hoosiers had their second crush in 2010 season on the Lakers, winning 11-1. The victory secured the ticket for IU to go to the Eastern Championships starting on April 30.

Six players contributed in scoring 11 goals for the Hoosiers. Center Kate Dunn led the team with three, making her second hat trick in the season. Attacker Jakie Köhli scored two in the game, both of which came early in the first period. Köhli’s pair of goals in the game helped her set the single-season scoring record in IU history.

IU only let Mercyhurst score one goal during the entire game, which came in the first stanza. The Hoosiers held the Lakers blank in scoring in three periods.

In their meeting with Michigan during the afternoon’s championship game, the Hoosiers fought hard but failed to rock the host team which they had lost to twice earlier in the season.

As the top seed in the CWPA Western Division, the No. 7 Wolverines set the tone for the competition from the beginning.

The Hoosiers battled back and forth defensively for the first seven minutes but yielded to a power play by the Wolverines late in the first period.

IU’s leading scorer Köhli was injured in the first half and did not return. Attacker Kelly Palmberg’s goal in the final seconds by the halftime helped the Hoosiers avoid a scoreless half period.

Defense was well executed throughout the game, but the loss of the nation’s leading scorer definitely hurt IU’s offensive play. Both teams traded a pair of goals with each other. Goalkeeper Cassie Wyckoff saved the goal 12 times in the game, but could not change the result as the Wolverines claimed their ninth straight divisional title.

Both IU and Michigan will go to the Eastern Championship next weekend.

— Kevin Wang

Women’s tennis
Hoosiers take 1 of 2 Big Ten battles

Entering the weekend, the IU women’s tennis team did not want to not lose ground in the conference standings. Stuck in a three-way tie for fifth, the last position to receive a first round bye in the upcoming tournament, the Hoosiers knew they would have to win at least one match this weekend to stay in contention for the bye.

Mission accomplished.

“We did what we had to do,” IU coach Lin Loring said. “We had to beat Michigan State to stay in a tie for fifth. It depends on the Minnesota-Purdue match. We have the tiebreaker if Purdue, Indiana, and Ohio State all stay tied.”

The Hoosiers were heavily favored against the Spartans in their Saturday match and did not disappoint, taking the doubles point and four of six singles contests. Junior Maria Guerreiro teamed with freshman Leslie Hureau to win No. 2 doubles 8-6 in her first varsity match in several weeks. She also played both singles and doubles against Michigan on Sunday.

Injuries took their toll for the Hoosiers against Michigan — ranked No. 4 in the country and undefeated in the Big Ten — as they lost 6-1. Junior Myriam Sopel did not play, and Hureau and junior Charlotte Martin both left with injuries.

“We’re pretty banged up,” Loring said. “After they lost the first set, we forfeited the match because there is no reason to injure it further. If we get the bye we don’t have to play in the Big Ten tournament until Friday, so that gives us more time.”

The Hoosiers’ only victories were in No 3 doubles and No. 4 singles, where senior captain Lindsey Stuckey won 7-6, 6-3 in the final regular season match of her career. Stuckey had played nearly the entire year at No. 5 singles, but due to injuries and recent strong play, was bumped up to No. 4 for the weekend.

“She played really, really well,” Loring said. “It was a good way for her to close out her regular-season career.”

— Max McCombs

Men’s tennis
IU grabs 6th seed in Big Ten Championships

Sophomore Jeremy Langer dropped to the floor and placed his hands over his face. He slammed his racket against the ground and cringed in frustration.

Langer had just dropped a tough third-set tiebreak to Michigan’s Evan King at No. 2 singles, giving the Wolverines a 4-2 overall lead in the match.

Langer’s match epitomized the Hoosiers’ Big Ten regular season; so close, and yet so far. IU’s weekend split — a 7-0 win against Michigan State on Saturday and a 5-2 loss to No. 26 Michigan on Sunday — gave the No. 39 Hoosiers an average 5-5 conference record and a six-seed in Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament.

Had they taken advantage of tiebreaks against Michigan and Minnesota, the Hoosiers would have finished with a 7-3 record and would have had an at-large NCAA Tournament berth all but wrapped up.

But as it is, IU (15-9, 5-5) still has work to do in the conference tournament to make sure it isn’t left out of the postseason for the second year in a row.

“I thought Michigan was going to be tough to beat indoors, and they were, but we had our chances,” IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said. “We had two matches that went late in the third and you just have to win those matches. We had four match points in one and multiple opportunities in the other. Those are tough losses, but all you can do is get up, work on it again and figure it out.”

The weekend wasn’t all bad for the Hoosiers.

Freshman Josh MacTaggart won both of his matches at No. 3 singles in straight sets, giving him a 31-12 singles record this season.

IU also won the doubles point in both matches. The Hoosiers have now won the doubles point in seven of their last eight matches.

The Hoosiers will open play in the Big Ten Tournament at 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon on the IU Varsity Courts. Their opponent will be determined today.

— Justin Albers

Softball
Rain ends Hoosiers’ contest early

The Little 500 men’s race wasn’t the only event affected by the rain.

The IU softball team tried to battle the elements, but the game was called in the top of the 7th inning against Northwestern to be finished playing the next day.

The rain was again too bad for the Hoosiers to play Sunday, so the umpires decided to cancel the game.

“I think we were in a good position to come back and win that ball game,” IU coach Michelle Gardner said. “I was disappointed we weren’t able to get any innings in today”.

The Wildcats beat the Hoosiers 7-6 in the six innings they played.
In the first inning, freshman pitcher Jessica Dobson gave up four runs and three hits and was replaced by senior pitcher Monica Wright, who pitched the rest of the games.

“Can’t keep the ball in the park, can’t throw good pitches and most of the mistakes come in the first inning of every game this season,” Gardner said.

Sophomore infielder Adrienne Monka went 1-2 with 3 RBI from her three-run home run in the top of the first inning.

The Hoosiers were down 7-3 and put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, trimming the lead to one run.

“When we do pitch well, we win, but we haven’t been consistent in the circle,” Gardner said.

— Aaron Siegal-Eisman

Women’s golf
IU finishes 5th at Big Tens

Even though Monday is the start of dead week around IU’s campus, the nerves will be a plenty for the members of the IU women’s golf team.

After finishing fifth at this weekend’s Big Ten Championship, IU coach Clint Wallman and the Hoosiers will await their fate in earning an NCAA Tournament bid this afternoon.

The Hoosiers’ four-round total of 1,205 is the second-lowest in school history at the Big Ten Championship. The 2010 Big Ten Championship was contested in Madison, Wis., and the weather played a huge factor in the tournament.

“I was hoping we would wind up a little higher, but it was a really rugged championship,” Wallman said. “With the weather conditions and everything, I am really pleased.”

Leading the Hoosiers all week in the top 15 individually was senior Laura Nochta and freshman Jackie Yanch.

Nochta’s four-round total of 296 was good enough for seventh place individually and earned her a spot on the All-Big Ten Second Team.

Yanch came into the final round tied with Nochta, but an 80 on Sunday dropped her to 14th place individually.

“You can’t say enough about Laura and the contributions she made all week,” Wallman said. “Jackie has a big-time game, and we will hear a lot more from her in the future.”

Two closing rounds of 75 moved freshman Pam Burneksi up the leader board into 32nd place.

Fellow freshman Kate Coons was four shots behind Burneski and finished the week in 41st place.

With the completion of the Big Ten Championship, the book is now closed on the 2009-10 IU women’s golf regular season.

There will be a lot of anxious sitting around at the IU Golf Course come 4:00 p.m. Monday to see if the Hoosiers will not only earn an NCAA Tournament bid, but possibly play in the Central Regional at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ind. via a teleconference.

— Kevin Bowen

Men’s golf
Hoosiers place 4th at Boilermaker Invitational

Despite wet and soggy conditions at this weekend’s Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, the IU men’s golf team fought its way to a fourth-place finish out of 12 teams in its final regular-season tournament of the 2009-10 season.

The Hoosiers began the final round in seventh place but climbed the leaderboard thanks to a closing 291, which was the second-lowest final round of any team in the field.

“I thought we played very well in the final round despite a few mistakes coming home,” IU coach Mike Mayer said.

Due to rain, the entire field had to complete their second rounds Sunday morning and then sit through a rain delay before beginning the third and final round in the afternoon.

Sophomore Chase Wright led the Hoosiers all week on the individual leaderboard and finished the tournament in seventh place.

A final-round 68 by freshman Corey Ziedonis paced the Hoosiers as a team and also gave the Indianapolis native his highest finish of his career, 11th place individually.

Senior Alex Martin opened the tournament up with a pair of 73’s and finished in 23rd place.

Two shots higher than Martin was sophomore David Erdy in 25th place individually.
The depth of the Hoosier’s lineup was seen first-hand during the final round, as the one score they did not count towards the team score was Martin’s, the team’s No. 1 player.

“That is what we need and what we are going to need heading into the Big Ten Championships and postseason play,” Mayer said. “We need that kind of ability regardless of who you are in the lineup we need that low number.”

With the eight wins the Hoosiers picked up this weekend, their record on the year is now 66-54 heading into the 2010 Big Ten Championship, which begins Friday.

IU will leave Wednesday to prepare for the tournament in Maple Plain, Minn.
Mayer said the Hoosiers will take care of a few house keeping items before making the trek up to the Twin Cities.

“We don’t have much time, but we need to get out academics in line before we leave, because when we come back we have finals week,” Mayer said. “I think we just need to sure up a few things, and we have our lineup now for the Big Ten Championships.”

— Kevin Bowen