Impressive finish falls short of title

The Hoosiers didn’t place as high as they hoped to but still pulled off an impressive showing, as a team and individually, finishing second at this weekend’s Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in East Lansing, Mich.\nPredicted to finish third, the Hoosiers finished runner-up with 855 points to heavily-favored Michigan, which took the title with 1,081 points. Defending champion Minnesota placed third.\nThe first day was eventful for several IU swimmers and divers, including freshman diver Landon Marzullo. Marzullo placed first on the 1-meter dive and set a Big Ten meet record with a score of 388.55 after six dives. In recognition of his performance, Marzullo was named Diver of the Championship, Big Ten Diver of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Senior diver Taylor Roberts and sophomore diver David Piercy also placed in the top 10. \nSenior swimmer Todd Patrick set school records in both the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Patrick broke his own record, set earlier in the day, in the 200-meter medley. The medley team of Patrick, junior Matt Lenton, senior Ben Hesen and freshman Ante Zoricic placed second and set a school record with a time of 1:18.34. \nMarzullo continued his dominance on the second day of the championships, taking the top score in the 3-meter diving competition. He defeated Purdue diver David Colturi by four tenths of a point. \nHesen broke several individual records on the weekend, including one set by U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps. Hesen won the 200-meter backstroke in 45.92, bettering Phelps’ time set in 2005. Hesen was also one of four Hoosiers to place in the 100-meter backstroke and won his second straight Big Ten title in the 100-meter backstroke.\nHesen proved that his swimming expertise extends beyond the backstroke. He set a school record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 46.65 and was the first Hoosier to win in the butterfly event since 1986. \nThe 200-meter medley team of Hesen, senior Ronnie Hehn, Patrick and Lenton gave IU its first title of the conference meet and officially qualified for the NCAA Championship in March. \nThe final day of the competition saw Hesen and Patrick break more records, with Patrick also officially qualifying for NCAA competition. Hesen broke his own record, set at last year’s conference meet, in the 200-meter backstroke. Patrick broke the school record in the 200-meter butterfly and placed second. \nLike Marzullo, Henson also took home the top individual award in his sport, sharing the Big Ten Swimming of the Championship award with Michigan’s Alex Vanderkaay.\nHesen swept the swimming counterpart, sharing the titles of Big Ten Swimmer of the Championship and Big Ten Swimmer of the Year with Michigan’s Alex Vanderkaay. \nIU coach Jeff Huber also took home an award this weekend, winning the Diving Coach of the Year award.