Hoosiers finish 12th at NCAA's

IU Women's Swimming and Diving has finished in the top 16 at the NCAA National Championships the past four years, and this year's competition held to that tradition as the Hoosiers finished 12th at the meet in College Station, Texas.\nIU finished with 119 points, which trailed national champion Auburn -- who finished with 569 points -- as well as Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Stanford, California, UCLA, Texas, Southern California, fellow Big Ten team Wisconsin, and South Carolina. \nThe Hoosiers' solid final standing, while not only the fourth straight top 16 finish at the NCAA's, also ties for the third best finish in school history. Two of the top three finishes still stand from the early 1980's, as the Hoosiers finished 11th in 1980 and 12th in 1981. In 2002, the team achieved its best place ever, finishing 10th. \nIU's excellent result was solidified by standout performances from the beginning of the competition. The Hoosier 200-meter freestyle team, composed of Annica Lofstedt, Erin Smith, Tammy Kostner and Meghan Medendorp, placed eighth in their relay with a time of 1:41.48. This finish marks the best finish at the NCAA's by a Hoosier swimmer since a second place finish by Sarah Woessner in the 100-meter backstroke in 2002. \nThose performances weren't the end of Thursday success for the Hoosiers, however. A pair of seniors, Erin Gorlesky and Meghan Medendorp, turned in a pair of 14th place finishes in the 400-meter freestyle and the 50-meter freestyle, respectively. Those performances ensured IU of a 13th place overall finish at the end of Day 1 in College Station. \nDay two's competition on Friday heated up even more for the IU swimmers. IU's 200-meter relay team of Leila Vaziri, Medendorp, Smith and Lofstedt finished 12th, and the trio of Brooke Taflinger, sophomore Kristen Bradley and Erin Gorlesky finished ninth, 10th and 11th respectively in the 400-meter individual medley. \nVaziri ventured into solo competition with an 11th place finish in the 200-meter freestyle, and Doherty Colgin acheived a 12th place finish in the 400-meter individual medley. This score of strong performances carried IU into Saturday, the final day of competition, with a hold on 12th place overall. \nWhile the swimmers were the story on Thursday and Friday, Saturday's competition was highlighted by a freshman diver's strong performance. Lindsay Weigle, a former Bloomington South standout, finished fourth on Saturday in platform diving with a score of 426.55. This fourth place finish by Weigle marks another streak for IU Women's Swimming and Diving. For three years straight, IU has had a platform diver finish fourth at the NCAA Championships.