IU hopes to crack top 10 at NCAA championships

The IU women’s swimming and diving team has bested every challenge placed before it this year, completing an undefeated dual-meet season and claiming its first Big Ten championship since 2003.\nStarting today at the NCAA championships in Minneapolis, IU will face its biggest test yet as it goes up against the best college swimmers and divers in the country. \nBut with nine swimmers and four divers qualified, there is reason to believe the Hoosiers can improve on their program-best ninth-place NCAA finish in 2005. \n“It’s so exciting to have such a big team here this weekend,” diving coach Jeff Huber said. “This is the biggest group I can remember. Hopefully we can feed off each other and get each other excited to perform well.”\nThe nine Hoosier swimmers will compete in 11 different individual events and four relays. The top-seeded IU swimmer is senior Leila Vaziri, who is seeded second in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman Presley Bard is seeded fifth in the 200-yard backstroke, while Vaziri is 11th. Sophomore Allison Kay is the 12th seed in the 200-yard butterfly and freshman Amilee Smith is the 15th seed in the 200-yard breaststroke. The 400-yard medley relay team is seeded eighth.\nSwimming coach Ray Looze said he doesn’t place too much emphasis on the preliminary seeds. \n“The seeds are not a great predictor of how the swimmers will finish,” he said. “We just want to go out and try to win each heat in the prelims and swim the best that we can.”\nThe Hoosiers will have a mix of youth and experience at the meet. Of the nine IU swimmers, six are freshmen and sophomores and three are seniors.\n“I think the veteran leadership always helps,” Looze said. “But our young swimmers are talented enough. At some point, you just go out there and swim well, no matter what your age.”\nThe Hoosier divers are coming off the NCAA Zone C diving meet last weekend where they won all three events and qualified four divers. \nJunior Christina Loukas won the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. Senior Lindsay Weigle won the platform. Senior Heather Chapman qualified with a second-place finish on the platform and freshman Brittney Feldman’s fourth-place finish on the 1-meter was good enough to qualify. \nHuber wants his team to focus less on individual accomplishments and more on fundamental diving. \n“We’re not as focused on outcome as we are on doing the things we want to do,” Huber said. “We want to compete with composure and toughness. Our goal is to have our season-best performance.”\nThe IU women have never won an NCAA championship, and they finished 14th in last year’s meet. The Hoosiers finished this season ranked No. 8 in the country. \nFor both teams, though, the focus isn’t on the past.\n“Our goal is to finish in the top 10,” Looze said. “I think the girls are real determined and ready to perform well.”