Hoosiers head to Kentucky looking for a win

The IU swimming and diving team will head to Louisville, Ky., to compete against the Cardinals at 5 p.m. Friday in the Ralph R. Wright Natatorium.

With the Hoosier women coming off last Saturday with a solid victory against Purdue and the men rested up from a weekend at home, the IU swimmers and divers hope to add another win to their record.

“The girls know it’s going to be a tough meet, but we’re all really determined at this point,” junior Lindsay Vrooman said. “Our win against Purdue last weekend will definitely help motivate us to win more in Louisville.”

Led by freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass, the Hoosier women beat Purdue 179-121.

Snodgrass grabbed victories in the 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter individual medley. As a result of her performance, Snodgrass earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week and Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Vrooman also contributed strong wins in 1,000-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle.

“Louisville has some pretty good breastrokers, sprint freestylers and I.M. swimmers, so that’s where we’ll be weakest,” Vrooman said. “Even with that being said, our team has a lot of depth, so we could potentially out-score Louisville with a lot of top finishes and even some 4th and 5th places, which will add up.”

For the women’s divers, senior Amy Cozad dominated the platform diving competition and almost beat her own school record in the process.

“These meets are a great benchmark for our training and how we need to adjust our training ’til the end of the season,” senior Mick Dell’Orco said. “With Big Ten’s right around the corner, it’s great to get that competitive edge and get in the mind frame that we need to be in to perform when it counts.”

On the men’s side, junior Cody Miller had a great performance against Ohio State and Iowa as he took first place in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events. Not only is he scoring big points for the Hoosiers in these events, but he also is one of the Big Ten leaders in the event.

IU will also look to juniors James Wells (100-meter backstroke) and Eric Ress (200-meter backstroke) who contributed to the Hoosier sweep of the backstroke events against Ohio State and Iowa.

In the sprint events, senior Daniel Kanorr touched the wall in first place in the 50-meter freestyle and second in the 100-meter freestyle.

The No. 14 Louisville Cardinals will pose a challenge for No. 8 IU as they go into this weekend’s competition.

The IU men will continue their dual meet schedule as they face Evansville Feb. 8 and Purdue Feb. 9. The Hoosier men will compete in the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington at the Doc Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center Feb. 27 through March 2.

The IU women are set to compete in the 2013 Big Ten Championships Feb. 20-23 in Minneapolis, Minn.

“The team has been training really well so we are definitely ready to compete,” Dell’Orco said. “We are coming off a couple good meets, so we are definitely looking to keep the ball rolling through the end of the season.”