Hoosiers conclude competition at Winter Nationals

The IU men’s and women’s swimming teams came out of the AT&T Winter Nationals with five top-five finishes Saturday night.

The competition was at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, Texas.

After the first day of competition, the Hoosiers placed multiple top 10 finishes, one of which came in the 200 freestyle relay.

Freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass, junior Bronwyn Pasloski and sophomores Justine Ress and Cynthia Pammett touched the wall with a time of 1:32.40 to finish seventh overall in the event.

In the 400 medley relay, Snodgrass, senior Ashley Specht, freshman Haley Lips and Pammett combined to place sixth with a time of 3:38.42, while juniors James Wells, Cody Miller and Eric Ress and senior Daniel Kanorr placed fifth for the men with 3:14.86.

Placing sixth and achieving an NCAA B cut, junior Lindsay Vrooman touched the wall with a time of 4:43.35 in the 500 freestyle.

Senior Jim Barbiere placed 13th and also earned an NCAA B cut in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:23.84.

Snodgrass raced to 23rd in the 200-yard individual medley with 2:00.08, an NCAA B cut,, while Pammett finished 27th in 2:01.58.

A time of 1:45.51 for Miller in the 200 individual medley was good for 10th place and a NCAA B cut.

Earning an NCAA provisional mark, Ress placed 23rd in 1:48.37 in the bonus final.

With one Hoosier swimmer in each of the 50-yard freestyle races, Ress took 53rd for the women (23.85), and Kanorr took 34th for the men (20.47).

On the second day of competition, Snodgrass, 1:53.97, NCAA B cut, and Eric Ress, 1:42.72, NCAA B cut, both had fourth-place finishes in the 200 backstroke.

In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Vrooman clocked in at 15:56.81 earning a third-place finish and an NCAA B cut.

Freshman Taylor O’Brien placed 11th with a time of 16:28.58, also an NCAA B cut.

With a provisional time of 1:58.14, junior Brenna MacLean took fourth in the 200 butterfly and was followed by Lips in ninth, 1:57.45, NCAA B cut. In the 200 breaststroke, Miller came out with a fifth-place finish, 1:54.89, NCAA B cut.

With their sights on making the Big Ten conference squad, the Hoosier swimmers hope to use their experience at the Winter Nationals to indicate their strengths and weaknesses.

“As a whole, the team is trying to work on the little things consistently so we can make these changes in time for the end of the season,” Eric Ress said.

The Big Ten conference meet is the third week of February for the women and the fourth week of February for the men.

The IU swimming teams are completed with competitions for this year but will be back in action at home Jan. 19, 2013. The men will face Ohio State and Iowa in a dual meet, and the women will face Notre Dame.