BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel south to Alabama to face the Auburn Tigers in a dual meet on Saturday.
The meet will be broadcast live on the SEC Network online starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. Live stats for the diving portion of the meet can be found at IUHoosiers.com.
Scouting the Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers head to Auburn coming off a successful quad meet against North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky last Friday. The Hoosier men posted wins over Tennessee and Kentucky, while the women earned a victory over the Wildcats.
Entering the meet, the IU men’s team is ranked No. 9 in the nation in both the CSCAA Coaches Poll and the CollegeSwimming.com Team Rankings. The Hoosier women are ranked No. 9 in the coaches’ poll and No. 5 in the team rankings.
“We expect Auburn to be more than ready to go for this meet,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “To date they have only raced once, so I expect their squad to be hungry. The key for the Hoosiers is to match their intensity right out of the gate. The first five events will be very important.”
The Indiana men’s and women’s divers continued the great start to their season in the quad meet, with Lacey Houser earning a win for IU in the 1-meter. Her winning score of 293.00 was a NCAA Zones qualifying mark, while Michal Bower also scored a NCAA qualifying mark in the 3-meter.
On the men’s side, Cody Coldren posted a NCAA Zones qualifying score of 330.80 to place third in the 3-meter dive, while Joshua Arndt finished seventh with 301.40. Both also had NCAA qualifying marks in the 1-meter as well.
“We are excited to take on Auburn this week,” IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “Historically Auburn swimming and diving is a top program and it will be a great head-to-head meet for both teams. With the early success the IU divers have had this year – all have made their NCAA cut for Zones – we are able to experiment with some new dives in this meet. It will be a good test to see if we can perform the new dives at a high level as we look forward to the championship season.”
Scouting the Tigers
Once again, the Hoosiers will be facing a highly-ranked opponent when the team travels to face the Auburn Tigers.
The men’s team enters the meet ranked No. 6 in the CSCAA Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the CollegeSwimming.com Team Rankings. The Auburn men return six All-Americans from last year’s team that placed sixth at the NCAA Championships.
The Tiger women are ranked No. 10 in the country in the CSCAA Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the CollegeSwimming.com Team Rankings. The Auburn women return three All-Americans from last year’s squad who finished 14th at the NCAA’s.
Last year, the IU men opened the season with a convincing, 149-91 win over Auburn, while the Tiger women edged the Hoosiers, 129-113.
Pieroni Earns Second B1G Swimmer of the Week Honors
Blake Pieroni was named co-Big Ten Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 4 for the second time this season. The Valparaiso, Ind. native continued his dominance in the 200 freestyle, topping his previous nation-best time with his mark of 1:35.91. Pieroni also won 100 freestyle (43.64) and the 200 individual medley (1:48.38), posting NCAA B cut times in all three events. His three wins at the quad meet push his season total to a team-leading eight.
Westphal Inducted into Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame
Indiana University associate head swimming coach Mike Westphal will be inducted into the Linfield College Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 7. A 1996 graduate of Linfield, Westphal ws the 1995 NAIA national champion in the 400-yard IM. A four-time All-American and a 1996 Academic All-American, Westphal set records in two individual races and three relays events.
Pieroni, Tucker Earn Weekly Big Ten Swimming Honors
After stellar performances against Texas and Florida, IU swimmers Blake Pieroni and Miranda Tucker earned weekly honors from the Big Ten on Oct. 21. Pieroni was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, while Tucker was named the conference’s Co-Freshman of the Week.
Miller, Grothe Named to U.S. Team for Duel in the Pool
Former Indiana University swimming standout Cody Miller was named to the U.S. Duel in the Pool National Team last week. Miller will be joined on the U.S. team by Zane Grothe, a 12-time All-American and U.S. Olympic qualifier at Auburn who is training with the Indiana coaching staff in Bloomington.
Hoosiers on the National Team
When USA Swimming announced the members of the 2015-16 National Team in early September, there was a strong contingent of swimmers that had ties to Indiana University.
The current members of IU team that were named to the national team include Lilly King in the 100 breaststroke, and Blake Pieroni in the 200 freestyle. Former IU standouts that made the cut are Cody Miller in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke along with Lindsay Vrooman in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle.
Joining the U.S. National Team coaching staff are current Indiana head coach Ray Looze, associate head coach Mike Westphal and former IU swimmer Logan Schaefer.
Zane Grothe, a graduate of Auburn University, is currently training with the IU coaches and staff in Bloomington and he was named to the team in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle. Groth ranks ninth in the 400 free and 26th in the world in the 200 free.
Swimming news courtesy of Indiana Swimming & Diving.