Through one day of action at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, IU women’s swimming and diving had begun its homecoming with a 166-115 defeat of the No. 13 University of Louisville, but fell just short of No. 8 University of Texas at Austin, 146-134.
While a win over Louisville is more sightly on the schedule, IU head coach Ray Looze said the close loss to Texas was even more encouraging.
“We score the meet out ahead of time, and we were supposed to lose by 100 points,” he said.
Looze said he took note of his team’s attitude following the opening 200-meter medley relay, in which IU’s Junior Grace Haskett and the freshman trio Emily Weiss, Cora Dupre, and Laurel Eiber came within .5 seconds of toppling Texas.
“I think that first relay really set the tone — we’re here to race,” Looze said.
IU’s strength in the backstroke was made clear by sophomore Noelle Peplowski and Weiss. Midway through the 100-meter, it was no longer a question of whether a Hoosier swimmer would win, but rather which one.
Weiss took first with a time of 1:10.01, and Peplowski made contact less than a second later at 1:10.79.
Later, Louisville junior Mariia Astashkina appeared to be en route to her first win of the day in the 200-meter before a surge by Peplowski in the third length secured victory for IU.
In the endurance department, IU senior Cassy Jernberg had a career day Friday, earning the top podium spot in both the 800 and 400-meter freestyle events.
Though Texas junior Evie Pfeifer led the majority of the 400, Jernberg was never more than a stroke behind. Jernberg won the crucial final lap, edging out Pfeifer by .05 seconds to the tune of loud poolside cheers.
“When I was on the second-to-last 50, I saw the entire team losing their minds, and I swim better when I swim for them,” Jernberg said. “I wanted to get my hand on the wall first for them.”
Among the teammates racing alongside Jernberg was IU junior Josie Grote. Grote notched her own victory in the 200-meter backstroke, an event Texas was expected to dominate.
Grote and fellow IU junior Bailey Kovac both finished with their feet in front of the competition’s swim caps at 2:17.22 and 2:18.19.
Looze said Grote and Kovac’s efforts as critical in keeping abreast of the opposition.
“That event has been our Achilles’ heel, and to sweep it over Louisville and Texas was fantastic,” Looze said. “That is a highlight, for sure.”
Saturday’s outing was less auspicious than Friday’s, with IU sneaking past Louisville 142-139, but unable to hang with Texas, falling 168-113.
Peplowski finished a torso ahead of her competitors in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke races, but the combined efforts of Evie Pfeifer and freshman Kelly Pasch gave Texas domain over the freestyle events.
Day two’s standouts for the Hoosiers were Emily Weiss in the 100-yard breaststroke and Josie Grote in the 400-yard individual medley. Weiss’ time of 1:01.15 and Grote’s 4:16.99 both earned NCAA B-cuts.
The diving board belonged to the Longhorns, with sophomore Paola Pineda and senior Alison Gibson topping the scoresheet in the one-meter and three-meter, respectively. Freshman Zain Smith was the highest-scoring Hoosier in both dives. Smith's 298.65-point performance in the three-meter gives her the opportunity to fight for an appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Before any aspirations of a national title contention can come to fruition, IU will turn its focus to Knoxville, Tennessee, on Nov. 21 for the Tennessee Invitational. There await three days of meets featuring a gauntlet of top-10 schools.
Looze acknowledged the immensity of the task before him and his squad, but said he can draw confidence from what transpired this weekend.
“They came here to win today,” he said. “This was a good step in the right direction, but it’s just a step. There are a lot more of those to come.”
