Hoosierland Invite - Day Three

INDIANA MEN

Three victories, including a pair of individual first-place showings highlighted the final day of action of the 2009 Hoosierland Invitational at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center Sunday afternoon.
 
Newcomer Illya Larin picked up his best finish as a Hoosier with a second-place showing in the 1,650 freestyle, touching the wall in 15:40.35. Tyler Shedron was fifth in 16:04.64, followed by Brenden Butler (6th- 16:07.79), John Schnittker (7th- 16:13.51) and Bart Ginocchio (8th- 16:17.59).
 
Doug Spraul remains undefeated in the 200 backstroke after clocking a winning time of 1:47.94, a season best for the junior. Kevin Happ was third in 1:54.21, with Mark Wetzel fifth (1:58.07), Austin Steel sixth (1:59.06) and Zack Stockman seventh (1:59.52).
 
Titus Knight posted a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 45.60. Freshman Bryant Honsa was fourth (47.34), while Steel took fifth (47.69), Stockman seventh (48.46) and Ante Zoricic eighth (48.61).
 
Aaron Opell took second in the 200 breaststroke championship final with a time of 2:05.75. He was one of five Hoosiers in the final, with Brenden Butler third (2:09.57), Tyler Lemert fourth (2:10.02), Sam Trahin fifth (2:10.07) and Knight sixth (2:12.42).
 
In the final individual event of the invitational, Shedron won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:50.92. Shedron now owns the two fastest times by an Indiana swimmer in the event this season. Opell was second in 1:52.06, with Tim Blue third (1:52.59), Jon Hueni fourth (1:58.65), Honsa fifth (1:59.02), Christopher Head sixth (2:00.58) and Spraul seventh (2:04.12).
 
The meet closed with the 400 freestyle relay as Knight, Shedron, Honsa and Steel combined for a winning time of 3:06.66. The Hoosiers’ B squad of Zoricic, Stockman, Daniel Kanorr and Andrew Taylor was third in 3:08.83.
 
The Hoosiers are back in action on Dec. 5 as they travel to Lexington, Ky. for a dual meet with the Kentucky Wildcats.


INDIANA WOMEN

Victories by Kate Fesenko in the 200 butterfly and Cassie Luhrsen in the 1,650 freestyle highlighted the final day of competition for the Indiana women’s swimming team at the 2009 Hoosierland Invitational at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
 
Indiana opened the finals session with a win in the 1,650 freestyle as Luhrsen raced home in a time of 16:38.94. Brittany Strumbel was second in 16:57.08, followed by Allysa Vavra in fourth (17:05.25).
 
Ashley Jones took second in the 200 backstroke with a season-best time of 2:01.24. Margaux Farrell placed fourth in 2:03.71, while Kim Tracey rounded out the IU representatives in the championship final with a seventh-place finish (2:08.46).
 
Fesenko was the top IU finisher in the 100 freestyle as she touched fourth in 52.01. Strumbel was the only other IU swimmer in the championship heat, finishing eighth (53.81).
 
The Hoosiers took three of the top four spots in the 200 breaststroke final as Amilee Smith placed second in 2:19.20, followed by Vavra (2:19.89) and Ashley Specht (2:21.30). Also in the championship final were Brittany Barwegen (6th- 2:22.99) and Katelyn Ishee (7th- 2:23.58).
 
Fesenko gave the Hoosiers their second win of the day with a victory in the 200 butterfly, clocking an NCAA provisional time of 1:57.83. That time puts her just outside the all-time top five for Indiana. Barwegen was third in 2:02.64, while Nikki White placed eighth with a time of 2:11.06.
 
Indiana’s 400 freestyle relay quartet of Donna Smailis, Fesenko, Farrell and Strumbel took second in 3:28.37. Also posting a top-five finish was the group of Vavra, Tracey, Ashley Jones and White (5th- 3:34.74).
 
The Hoosiers are back in action Dec. 5 as they take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a dual meet in Lexington, Ky.


NOTRE DAME

Kim Holden and Katie Casey each recorded NCAA B-cut
performances Sunday at Indiana's Cousilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center on the
final day of the Hoosierland Invitational, as the Notre Dame women's
swimming and diving team won four events to wrap up the meet.

The Irish will have to wait until Jan. 9 for their next dual meet, a home
affair with Northwestern at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The program will head
to Hawaii after Christmas for its annual winter training trip.

"It's always a good thing when the team performs their best during the final
session of a meet like this," Irish head coach Brian Barnes said. "That¹s an
indication of the heart this team has, and they showed it from start to
finish. The team's confidence keeps growing, and they're starting to click.

"We're going to use these next few weeks to get better. This is when we¹re
going to continue to improve and become a better team."

1,650 Freestyle: Gracie Fredlake turned in the top Irish performance in the
endurance event and took home the third-place medal in 16:59.07 S Jaime
Malandra came in fifth with her time of 17:10.87 to complete a strong
showing for the freshman distance swimmers.

200 Backstroke: Kim Holden blazed to first place in an NCAA B-cut qualifying
time as she stormed the field in 1:57.98 to win by nearly four seconds S
Megan Farrell swam to a fifth place finish in 2:04.69.

100 Freestyle: Amywren Miller led the charge of an Irish dominated
championship final heatS swam to gold in a swift time of 50.27S Delia Cronin
(51.30) and Farrell (51.86) helped complete the 1-2-3 sweep for the IrishS
Kellyn Kuhlke (52.02), Zeina Shanata (52.28), and Lauren Scott (53.15)
placed 5th through 7th place respectively to help the Irish take 6 of the
top 7 spots.

200 Breaststroke: Sam Maxwell took charge of the competition as she
dominated the race to take first place honors for the Irish in the distance
breaststrokeS her time of 2:17.12 bested the second place finisher by a
solid two secondsS Ashlee Edgell stopped the clock at 2:21.83 for fifth
place honors.

200 Butterfly: Fesenko of Indiana came away with the victory, but Katie
Casey of the Irish turned in a strong performance of 1:59.46 to take the
silver in the race. Casey's time is also an NCAA 'B' qualifying timeS Kuhlke
(2:05.04), Emily Barton (2:09.58), Scott (2:10.17), and Shanata (2:10.19)
took 4th through 7th place respectively in the championship heat.

400 Freestyle Relay: The squad of Holden, Farrell, Cronin, and Miller
finished out the meet for the Irish in fine fashion, taking gold-medal
honors in a strong time of 3:25.76S Shanata, Kuhlke, Fredlake, and Meg
Reynolds teamed together to help round out the medal podium for third with a
time of 3:31.36.

1-meter: Natalie Stitt (276.05) was fifth, Heidi Grossman (275.85) was sixth
and Jenny Chiang (261.20) was eighth.

3-meter: Chiang posted a career-high 335.55 for third place S Grossman
(317.60) and Stitt (312.50) also recorded season-highs. The meet¹s diving
field featured Olympian Christina Loukas and several 2009 NCAA finalists S
Notre Dame qualified each of its there divers for the NCAA Zone meet this
spring.