The Hoosiers were coming off a weekend where not much went right.
In losses to Michigan and Texas last week, the men’s swim team didn’t get a single win. The only two first-place finishes came on sophomore Michael Hixon’s sweep of the diving events.
But Friday, they regained some momentum.
The IU men’s and women’s teams went a combined 4-0 in a dual meet against Tennessee and Kentucky.
The No. 8 Hoosier men defeated No. 14 Tennessee 157-143 and blew out Kentucky 240-58. For the No. 20 IU women, it was 169-129 and 176.5-123.5 against No. 12 Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively.
After starting slow in a quad meet at Michigan, IU Coach Ray Looze said a concern was his team adjusting to a higher level of ?competition.
By Friday, that wasn’t a problem.
The Hoosiers went 1-2 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Stephanie Marchuk finishing first and junior Haley Lips second. The women also went 1-2-4 in the 200-yard freestyle, led by freshman Kennedy Goss. Goss won her second freestyle event of the day in the 100-yard freestyle. Her time of 49.86 is a season-best and NCAA B-cut.
Junior Brooklynn Snodgrass remained undefeated in the 100-yard backstroke.
She was also first in the 200-backstroke, finishing more than five seconds ahead of second-place finisher.
Prior to the meet, Looze said he didn’t think his women’s team had ever beat Tennessee in a dual meet. Last season, it was a 171-123 loss to the Volunteers.
IU was 0-3 against them in the previous three seasons.
The win was timely for a women’s team that lost to three of its first four opponents of the season.
For the men, sophomore Anze Tavcar swept the freestyle events.
He won the 200-free, earning an NCAA B-cut with a time of 1:36.08. Tavcar took the 50-free in 20.10, and in the 100-free, Tavcar went a season-best 43.69.
With few first-place finishes, the Hoosiers picked up a bulk of their points with second, third and fourth place finishes.
IU went 2-3-4 in the 200-yard breaststroke, then 2-3 in the 500-yard freestyle, led by freshman Blake Pieroni.
Hixon swept the diving events for the second consecutive week. He scored season bests on both the 1-meter and 3-meter, with 417.7 and 414.75 points, respectively.
The meet ended with a 400-free relay sweep for the Hoosiers.
Goss, Snodgrass, Lips and freshman Grace Vertigans won for the women and Tavcar, Pieroni, sophomore Max Irwin and senior Yianni Thermos took first for the men.
