'Time' is up for NCAA tournament

The stakes were high at the Indiana Open on Saturday. The meet, held at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, marked the last chance for competitors to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, which is held later this month in Austin, Texas. \nSwimmers from schools all around the area competed, including those from Cincinnati, Evansville, and Ball State, trying for NCAA times. \nWhile success at the open could translate to a NCAA spot, nothing is certain until all meets are finished Sunday. Sophomore Murph Halasz was the only swimmer with an NCAA-qualifying time prior to Saturday's meet, with a B-time in the 200-yard freestyle. \nIU men's coach Ray Looze said a handful of swimmers have shots at making NCAAs, but the team won't know for sure until later in the week. The NCAA sets provisional times that swimmers need to reach. However, those times don't necessarily guarantee a spot, as the standards change depending on how swimmers perform. \n"(The NCAA) take a certain number of people, so you really don't know who will make the cut until everything settles out," Looze said. "Murph (Halasz) probably has the best chance with Dave Schulze and Matt Leach on the outside looking in."\nJunior Claes Andersson had success in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 20.08. That time would be good for fourth all time on IU's career best list, but Andersson already holds the second place time with a 19.93 last year.\nJunior Mike Payne swam his career best in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.32. Payne's time was the 10th best ever at IU. Both swimmers posted provisional times for the NCAAs.\nSenior David Schulze had a season best time in the 200-yard breaststroke at the Open with a time of 2:00.10, giving him a provisional time. The 200-yard free relay team consisting of juniors Dale Ramsy, Andersson and Payne, and sophomore Nicolas Burgess, also posted a NCAA provisional time.\nWhile the Indiana Open is not considered a big meet, the athletes competing still said they took it seriously.\n"It's not a big meet but the stakes are just as high," Halasz said. "Although it's not a high profile, high pressure meet, the stakes are just as high because we are trying to get a NCAA bid."\nControversy arose as the 200-yard medley relay finished the relay squad's event. The IU men earned a provisional time of 1:27.89, but it was ruled that the second leg of the relay jumped early, disqualifying the Hoosiers. The time posted by the 200 medley relay would have ranked IU 12th in the nation this year. \n"It was a time trial, and we didn't get any of the times we were looking for," Looze said. "We came close. The 200 medley time would have been good enough for 12th, but you have to do it legally and we didn't"