Junior Roberts wins both diving events for men

The IU men's swimming and diving team hosted the 11th annual IU Open Invitational this weekend at Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. IU hosted the unscored meet, welcoming eight teams to compete in the swimming events, diving events or both.\nThe men got strong performances from a pair of juniors, Taylor Roberts and Ben Hesen. Roberts impressed on the springboards, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Hesen continued his dominance in the 100-yard backstroke, earning a first-place finish with a time of 48.63, a meet record. Hesen also placed second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.48.\n"I think this meet was a little more fun for us," Hesen said. "There was less pressure on us as a team, so guys were joking around a little bit more. Any time you're able to act like a kid again when you swim, it's good. It can be very mentally stressful, so it's nice to forget all that."\nJunior Todd Patrick also had an outstanding showing, winning three events. He earned an NCAA-qualifying time of 1:49.01 in the 200-yard individual medley and also notched a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle.\nThe Hoosier relay teams also had noticeable results, posting four second-place finishes. The 200-yard medley relay team of Hesen, Patrick, Ronnie Hehn and Nick Walkotten impressed with a time of 1:30.52 and the 400-yard medley relay team of Hesen, Patrick, Hehn and Lee Houchin finished with a time of 3:24.29. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Patrick, Houchin, J.K. Koehler and Alex Brunfeldt also swam to a second-place finish with a time of 6:52.19. In the final event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle team of Hesen, Patrick, Walkotten and Houchin finished second with a time of 3:02.32, getting edged out by the University of Louisville's 'A' relay team.\nDespite the good results, swimming coach Ray Looze saw plenty of room for improvement.\n"It could have been a lot better," Looze said. "We swam all right at night, but our prelim times where not where they should have been. That last relay should not have ended like that. We can't let another team beat us out like that in our place. We have a lot to work on, but it's better to know now than later"