Hoosiers play host to Buckeyes in dual meet

After intensive winter break training, the IU women's swimming and diving team is anxious to start the spring season this weekend in Big Ten competition. While the diving team ended its training with its Winter Invitational and Dive-Off last weekend, the swimming team hasn't raced in competition since Dec. 1.\nThe No. 20 Hoosiers will open up the spring season when they host Ohio State Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center. IU enters the meet with a 2-0-1 overall dual record and a 1-0-1 record in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 2-5 overall with an 0-2 record in conference duals.\nComing off the break, swimming head coach Dorsey Tierney is pleased with the Hoosiers' progress.\n"I feel real good about where we are at this point," she said. "As an overall group, we really stepped up our performance, and I think most of the swimmers are probably in the best physical condition of their life. Now it is up to us as to what we do with that, and we are definitely chomping at the bit to get on the blocks against another team."\nJunior Colleen McCracken echoed Tierney's opinion of the team's eagerness to compete again.\n"Just getting back into racing since we have been out for a month and getting everybody psyched up for the meet will be good," McCracken said. "Showing everybody what we can do after Christmas training and showing them how hard we worked is important, because it will definitely show in our performance in the pool."\nTierney believes the Hoosiers need to swim smarter and more confidently in the spring season to reach their full potential. She is also looking for the Hoosiers to display more depth.\n"We are looking for the entire team to step up, not just have four, five or six people," Tierney said. "We need 24 people to participate and to get up and race and score points for the team. I haven't seen that yet, and it is time now. There are no more excuses for the smaller details in races."\nThe little details are what junior Kristy Martin believes will make the Hoosiers a better squad.\n"We want to have good races and work on all the little things," she said.\nTierney said she hopes her freshman class responds positively in its return to competition and looks for sophomore Sarah Fiden and juniors Anne Williams and Tina Gretlund to have success following strong training sessions.\nOver break, Gretlund competed for her homeland of Denmark in the European Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. Gretlund's time of 4:46.14 in the 400-meter individual medley was fast enough to give her an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships in March.\nOn the diving side of the competition, the Hoosiers and head coach Jeff Huber are coming into the meet after a successful showing in the Indiana Winter Invitational and Dive-Off.\nThe Hoosiers had a five day training session in Orlando, Fla., where Huber said they especially worked on completing all of their dives.\n"In the first semester, we focused a lot on just skills and drills," Huber said. "This phase of our training is getting in more repetitions of the actual dives. We wound up doing lists of dives where they go through their competitive dives."\nIn their return to competition, Sara Reiling set two pool records and Erin Quinn set one school record. For her performance, Reiling was named the Big Ten Diver of the Week for the second time this season.