The Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had great performances against two top-10 teams on Friday night in Austin, Texas. The three teams swam a long course meter program on Friday, with a short course meet to be held on Saturday.
The Indiana women beat Florida, 159-139, but lost to Texas, 168-130. The Hoosier men fell to the 2015 NCAA National Champion Texas Longhorns, 201-98, and fell to Florida, 157-143.
"Today marked the first victory ever for one of our teams over the Florida Gators,” head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “I’m very proud of both our men and women and how hard they fought against two of the historically top programs in the NCAA. Tomorrow, more opportunities exist to improve upon this accomplishment."
On the day, the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming team combined to win seven events in the double-dual, long course meter meet against the Longhorns and the Gators.
Friday was also a great day for the Hoosier divers overall, but especially for Joshua Arndt. The junior finished second in the 3-meter dive with a career-best mark of 397.00.
Arndt also led the Hoosiers in the 1-meter, placing third with a score of 338.95. Both scores are NCAA qualifying scores for Arndt.
“It was a fantastic day for IU swimming and diving,” head diving coach Drew Johansen remarked. “All the Hoosier divers took it to their opponents quite well in the hostile environment of three top-10 teams squaring off. Both Texas and Florida were tremendous opponents and Texas hosted the event well. Josh Arndt stood out for IU as he challenged the country’s best this early in the year with a host of new dives. It was a personal best for Arndt in the 3-meter and the country now knows he is a force to reckoned with.”
For the women, Michal Bower finished third in the 1-meter dive with a score of 261.45 and sixth in the 3-meter dive with a mark of 274.55.
The Hoosier women got the meet off to a great start, winning the 200 LCM medley relay, as the team of Marie Chamberlain, Lilly King, Gia Dalesandro and Grace Vertigans timed in at 1:57.09. On the men’s side, the team of Bob Glover, Tanner Kurz, Max Irwin and Ali Khalafalla touched the wall in a time of 1:42.92 to place second.
In the 800 LCM freestyle, Haley Lips finished third with a time of 9:02. 79, while Stephanie Marchuck placed fourth in 9:06.78. Jackson Miller led the Indiana men with a fourth place finish with a mark of 8:17.51.
In the 200 LCM freestyle, Kennedy Goss placed third with a time of 2:05.04, while Blake Pieroni won the event for the men, touching the wall in a terrific time of 1:49.94. Jackson Miller was also strong, coming in third in a time of 1:52.60.
Bob Glover led the charge for IU in the 100 LCM backstroke, taking second place with a mark of 57.19.
Lilly King continued her strong day with her second win of the meet, placing first in the 100 LCM breaststroke in a time of 1:09.38. Miranda Tucker touched third with a time of 1:10.34. For the men, Tanner Kurz earned a runner-up finish with his time of 1:03.85.
In the 200 LCM butterfly, Gia Dalesandro was the top IU finisher, coming in second place with a mark of 2:16.62. Max Irwin led the men with his fourth palce finish in a time of 2:05.65.
Ali Khalafalla placed third for the Hoosiers in the 50 LCM freestyle with his time of 23.34, while Gabi Rajic touched fifth to lead the IU women in a time of 27.05.
Blake Pieroni claimed his second win of the day in the 100 LCM freestyle, coming in first with an outstanding time of 49.93. For the Indiana women, Kaitlin Kitchens placed third with a mark of 58.24.
The Hoosier women went 2-4-5 in the 200 LCM backstroke, led by Kennedy Goss in a time of 2:15.82. Rachel Matsumura placed fourth in 2:17.57, while Shelly Drozda came in fifth at 2:18.00.
Indiana finished took home the top two spots in the 200 LCM breaststroke, as Miranda Tucker placed first overall with a great time of 2:31.79. Lilly King was right behind her teammate in second in 2:32.87. Tanner Kurz led the men, coming in second with a time of 2:22.89.
Kennedy Goss continued her great meet in the 400 LCM freeestyle, winning the event with a time of 4:20.10. On the men’s side, Jackson Miller placed third in 4:00.78.
In the 100 LCM butterfly, Gia Dalesandro touched first overall, winning in a time of 1:01.60. Olivia Barker came in fourth with a time of 1:03.67. For the men, Oliver Patrouch finished fourth in 55.83.
Miranda Tucker was the top finisher for the Hoosiers in the 200 LCM IM, coming in second place in 2:21.07. Blake Pieroni finished third to lead the men with a time of 2:08.15.
Rounding out the meet on Friday, the relay team of Kaitlin Kitchens, Gabriela Rajic, Ali Rockett and Kennedy Goss finished second in the 200 LCM freestyle relay in a time of 1:46.33. On the men’s side, the team of Ali Khalafalla, Sam Lorentz, Oliver Patrouch and Blake Pieroni placed third with a mark of 1:33.64.
The Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in the pool to face both Texas and Florida on Saturday morning in Austin. Saturday’s events will all be short-course, with the meet getting underway at 11 a.m. ET.
Florida
The University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened Day One competition with Texas and Indiana on Friday night inside the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas. Tonight’s competition was swam in a long-course format.
The top-ranked men’s team surrendered a loss to the defending National Champion Texas Longhorns, 201-98, while scoring a 157-143 win over Indiana. On the women’s side, the Gators dropped both duals – falling to Texas, 171-129, and Indiana, 1159-139.
Senior Corey Main picked up the Gators first win of the night in the 100 backstroke -- touching out with a time of 56.98 seconds. Junior Jack Blyzinskyj finished close behind in fourth (57.27). Later in the 200 backstroke, Main, an Auckland, New Zealand, native, posted his second victory on the night with a time of 2:05.15.
Sophomore Caeleb Dressel added to the wins column with a top finish in the 50 freestyle, coming in at the 22.94 mark. Later in the 100 freestyle, the Green Coves Springs, Florida, native posted a second-place finish -- coming in with a time of 50.38. Dressel capped his Day One highlights with a win in the 100 fly (53.99). Sophomore Mark Szaranek finished third overall with a time of 2:05.16.
Szaranek capped a strong night by posting a win to wrap up UF’s final individual race -- the 200 individual medley (2:05.40).
On the women’s side, the Blue and Orange gathered a 1-2-4 finish in the 100 breaststroke from senior Ashlee Linn (first, 1:03.48), Sydney Sell (second, 1:04.39) and Georgia-Mae Hohmann (fourth, 1:04.99).
Junior Taylor Katz kept the momentum going with a first-place showing in the 200 butterfly, coming in with a time of 2:16.17.
Natalie Hinds had a pair of top-two finishes on the night. Her first came in the form of a top-finishing 100 freestyle (57.27). Later in the 100 butterfly, the Midland, Texas, native, finished runner-up with a time of 1:01.71.
In the diving well, senior Kahlia Warner stole the show, taking first-place on both the one and three-meter boards. Warner, a Queensland, Australia, native, posted a six dive score of 293.25 off the one-meter and later dove to a mark of 324.10 off the three-meter. Fellow senior Delaney Dye also had a strong second-place showing off the three-meter, posting a score of 302.75.
On the men’s side, senior Zach Hernandez led the UF divers with a sixth-place score of 295.65.
The Gators return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET for Day Two competition. Both the men and the women will compete in a short-course setting throughout the day.
