Indiana Sweeps Northwestern

The eighth-ranked Indiana University men's swimming and diving team made a statement with a 167-127 dual meet victory over No. 18 Northwestern Friday night at the Norris Aquatics Center in Evanston, Ill.  The Wildcat women kept the meet tighter with the Hoosiers still prevailing 163.5-136.5.

Indiana won 14 events en route to the victory and improved to 2-0 on the young season.

"Every time Northwestern and IU swim, it's always a good meet and this was no exception," said IU head swimming coach Ray Looze. "The Northwestern men have had one of the best teams the last several years in the NCAA and it was another good meet between the two teams."

It was a 1-2-3 sweep for IU in the 1,000-yard free, led by John Kevin Koehler's first-place showing (9:16.23). He was followed by Steffan Troxel (9:32.69) and Steve Murry (9:33.02). Indiana also took three of the top four spots in the 100-yard backstroke as Ben Hesen tallied nine points with a time of 49.13. Freshman Doug Spraul was third (51.86) and A.J. Miller fourth (52.34).

Hesen picked up his second win of the evening in the 200-yard backstroke (1:49.95), making it a clean sweep in the backstroke events. Not done yet, Hesen posted an NCAA "B" time of 47.89 to take first in the 100-yard butterfly. Koehler was also a multiple-event winner with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:29.27).

Pat Penoyar claimed the 100-meter breaststroke title (56.91), and teammate Ronald Hehn picked up another four points with a second-place showing (57.61). Penoyar added another victory in the 200 breast (2:05.42). In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Matt?Lenton blasted to the wall in a time of 20.52 to claim the top spot.
 
Todd Patrick won the 200-yard medley, touching the wall in 1:49.06. He added two more first-place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle (45.05) and 200-yard individual medley (1:50.28).

The 400-yard medley relay team of Hesen, Penoyar, Patrick and Lenton touched the wall in a tie of 3:18.02 to take first. The Hoosiers were second in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Titus Knight, Lenton, Koehler and Cody Weik finished in 3:05.60.

I thought that the team did a better job than where we previously were, so we're just trying to come together as a team, improve our depth and get more people involved in the scoring," Looze said. "We won some real close races, which is really critical, so I guess that's what I'm most happy about. We're pretty strong in the strokes right now, but we can be better in the freestyles too, so we'll look to put some more emphasis on that."

Indiana also got strong performances from its divers, with freshman Landon Marzullo picking up the sweep in the 1-meter (328.20) and 3-meter (296.48) events. Fellow freshman Kris Hill was third in the 1-meter (298.65).

Freshman Titus Knight was the fastest Hoosier in the 200-yard freestyle, coming in second with a time of 1:40.60. Alec Haley was able to add another three points to IU's total with a third-place showing in the 200-yard butterfly (1:53.42).

Depth was key for the Hoosiers as they had two top-three finishers in seven events and were victorious in 11 events. Sophomore Presley Bard and junior Sarah Stockwell led the way as each posted a pair of individual victories.

"Every time Northwestern and IU swim, it's always a good meet and this was no exception," said head IU?swimming coach Ray Looze. The women's meet was very close throughout, so we're just humbled to be able to come in here and come out with a win."

Bard was a winner in the 100- (54.54) and 200-yard backstroke (2:01.79) Her 100-yard backstroke mark is an NCAA?"B" qualifying time. Bard led a 1-2 IU finish in the 200 back with Ashley Jones touching the wall second (2:03.06). Bard also teamed up with Stockwell, Brittany Barwegen and Donna Smailis to place first in the 400-yard medley relay (3:45.75). Stockwell led the way in the 100- (1:04.39) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.20).

Freshman Amanda Smith picked up her first career wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:56.71) and 500-yard free (4:53.49), while Smailis added another four points with a second-place showing in the 200 free (1:53.27). Smith's mark in the 500 free is an?NCAA?"B" time.

Junior?Abby Cooper came up with a pair of top-three finishes, taking third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.03) and second in the 200-breast (2:21.34). Barwegen was a winner in the 200-yard butterfly, posting an NCAA "B" qualifying time of 1:59.44. She was also second overall and the top IU finisher in the 100-yard fly (56.34).    

Sophomore Brittany Feldman won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 308.45, then went on to capture the 3-meter title (312.60). Amy Korthauer was fourth in the 3-meter (235.95).