The Ralph Wright Natatorium was filled to capacity as IU faced Louisville for its last dual meet of the season.
The Cardinals sought to defend their home pool, but their efforts were no match for the Hoosiers.
IU swept Louisville on Friday night with a score of 175-125 on the men’s side and 159-139 on the women’s side.
“We had to come out with a high level of energy and picked up teammates who were struggling,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I’m extremely proud of them.”
IU distance swimmers took control of the 1000 freestyle, with senior Haley Lips and junior Stephanie Marchuk finishing in first and second. Freshman Adam Destrampe led the way in first for the men, followed by junior Jackson Miller, freshman Trey Hubbuch and sophomore Ethan Curl.
Sophomore freestyler Blake Pieroni finished first in the 200 freestyle yet again with a time of 1:36.67. Pieroni is currently the Big Ten leader in the event.
In the 100 free, Pieroni touched first with a time of 44.09, just ahead of Big Ten leader junior Anze Tavcar. In the 50 free, Pieroni swam for a career-best 20.25 to take third.
“We weren’t focusing so much on times, but we were focusing on just trying to compete,” Pieroni said. “We wanted to win races and out-touch people and that’s what we did so we’re really happy with that.”
Standout freshman Lilly King set a career-best 1:00.05 in the 100 breaststroke. King, who is the national leader, had the fourth-fastest time in IU history. King scored another victory in the 200 free with a season-best 2:10.57.
On the diving side, sophomore Cody Coldren placed first in the 1-meter, followed by junior Joshua Arndt in third. Senior Lacey Houser won the 1-meter for the women, with junior Michal Bower coming in at third.
Arndt took first in the 3-meter, with Coldren in third. For the women, Houser recorded her second win of the day, followed by Bower in fourth.
“There was definitely high energy,” Coldren said. “After Friday’s performance I feel like everyone on our side of the pool is in a very good place right now to go do some big things in the postseason.”
The women battled the Cardinals through every even. The meet ultimately came down to the final three events for the Hoosiers. Junior Gia Dalesandro made the difference with two individual event wins to secure the Hoosier victory.
“We didn’t exactly have our ‘A’ game, but right at the end we pulled out a couple of very close races,” Looze said. “Our women were really on the ropes, but Dalesandro really turned it up for us. We were making a last stand at the end because we knew we were going to struggle on the last relay.”
In the 500 freestyle, IU took the top three spots with Lips, Marchuk and senior Curtis Goss.
Then Dalesandro, the Big Ten leader, led the way, winning the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
“I knew it was close the whole time,” Dalesandro said. “I could see her. I just had to focus on my underwaters and hold her off. The competition level was really high so that made for a fun atmosphere. We swim faster when we’re having fun, so the energy was key for us.”
The IU men are currently ranked No. 9, while the women are No. 12. After beating the Cardinals, this win gives everyone on the team a big boost of confidence going into the championship season, Pieroni said.
The Hoosiers now have less than a month before Big Ten Championships.
“We keep our momentum up by training at a high level and competing against each other at every practice,” Pieroni said. “With the coaching staff that we have, they make it easy to keep progressing. Going head-to-head like that gets really exciting and that competition is what swimming is all about.”
