Women dominant in defense of title; relays and team depth lead to championship

Going into the Indiana Invitational, the IU women\'s swimming team looked to defend its title as invitational champions and to use the championship format to help them prepare for the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.\nAfter the three-day competition, sophomore Sarah Fiden said she thought the Hoosiers were able to learn from the meet format and said the invitational is just another event as the team gears for the spring championship events.\nThe championship format didn't effect Fiden, who swam to victory in the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle, with times of 4:53.39 and 16:30.60 respectively. Senior Erin Rice and junior Megan Ryther followed up Fiden, placing second and third in the 1,650-yard event for the Hoosiers. The invitational provided the first chance for the Hoosiers to compete in the 1650-yard free. Fiden defeated all competitors except Rice and Ryther by more than 50 yards.\n"I am very pleased," Fiden said of her time in the 1,650. "(My time) was about 35 seconds faster than what I went in this meet last year, which is always good. I was just hoping to go 16:45 in this meet, which would put me in the top eight at Big Tens. I felt really good and just went with it."\nLed by the performances of Fiden, senior Susan Woessner, juniors Tina Gretlund and Kristy Martin and freshman Erin Smith, the Hoosiers won 11 of the 18 swimming events throughout the weekend. The No. 17 Hoosiers (2-0-1) were successful in defending their crown with a score of 1,332.50. No. 26 ranked Tennessee (2-1) finished second with a total of 991.50, while Evansville (1-1), Cincinnati (2-0) and Kentucky (1-0) completed the invitational in that order. Kentucky only brought their divers to the invitational.\nThe Hoosiers claimed all five relay titles, setting season best times in the 200-yard free relay, 800-free relay, 200-medley relay and 400-medley relay. They just missed setting a season best in the 400-free relay as well.\nWoessner also won the 200-backstroke with a season best time of 2:01.35. She said she thought the Hoosier relays were very competitive and demonstrated the team's motto.\nIU also demonstrated its depth in the butterfly and individual medley events. Smith won the 100-butterfly event with a season best time of 56.57, while Gretlund placed third. In the 200-butterfly, Gretlund finished second, behind Volunteer senior Monica Shannahan. But Gretlund led a quartet of Hoosiers who took places two through five. Gretlund also won the 200-IM with a season best 2:05.78, while Martin placed third. Martin did claim the title in the 400-IM with a personal season best of 4:25.33, edging out Shannahan by 26 hundredths of a second. Junior Maggie Helmers placed third behind Martin and Shannahan for the Hoosiers.\nTierney also noted the importance of the Hoosiers' likeness to competing and racing.\nOn the diving side of the invitational, the Hoosiers were led by sophomore Cassandra Cardinell who placed fourth in the three-meter competition and by juniors Jennifer Sonneborn and Sara Reiling who placed fourth and fifth in the one-meter event respectively.\nDespite the Hoosiers' struggles, head diving coach, Jeff Huber was pleased with his teams' progress and said the invitational wasn't a high priority for the Hoosiers, who train their whole season looking ahead to the spring championship events.\n"The women are encouraged to see a lot of improvement," Huber said. "We had 12 personal best records just this weekend, which is pretty phenomenal. We have had the best training in any of me 26 years of coaching, and I think we have made as many improvements as I can remember over a short period of time."\nThis weekend also marked the first time the Hoosiers have competed in the 10-meter platform in competition. But because of injuries, only two Hoosiers, Reiling and junior Mamie Goodson were able to perform dives from the tower. \nReiling and Goodson only completed six dives while all other competitors did nine dives. But Reiling's six-dive total of 300.65 was good enough to put her in fourth place in the competition.\nThe Hoosier team will be split for the next competition which goes from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. Some swimmers will go to the Miami Invitational at Miami of Ohio, while select swimmers will head to the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.J., to compete in the U.S. Open Swimming competition.