Swimwomen take fourth at Big Tens

By LAWRENCE R.V. POTTER
Collegian Sports Writer

Another Big Ten Championship for women's swimming and diving concluded Saturday and for the ninth year in a row, it was Michigan on top.

The Wolverines racked up 857 points over the three-day competition in Indianapolis, easily outdistancing surprise second-place finisher Minnesota (536.5) and third-place Northwestern (483). Penn State, which finished fourth last year, finished sixth this year -- only 27 points behind Ohio State (332). Wisconsin finished fourth (383).

The Lady Lions held third place after last Thursday's contests, but had an off day on Friday. The team had to perform extremely well to take sixth place overall. Penn State's best finish on Friday was fourth place in the 200 medley relay, in which Lisa Pastrana, Kristi Swix, Sarah Duttera and Carmen Kondra swam it in 1:44:58.

"I'm disappointed we did not finish as well as we did last year," Coach Bob Krimmel said. "But this was the fastest (Big Ten) meet we've been to. On Friday, we had an off day and you can't have an off day with this type of competition. A lot of teams would have folded up their tents, but our kids came out and performed well this afternoon and were on fire (Saturday)."

The Lady Lions did have some highlights. For the fourth year in a row, the team had a Big Ten Champion in at least one event, as Deni Rudy won the 100 freestyle (50.19). Rudy, a senior co-captain, also teamed with Duttera, Karen Van Tassel and Kondra to place third in the 400 free relay (3:23.40). Freshman Liz Rossi placed fifth in the 1,650 freestyle (16:33.22).

"It feels really good -- I'm very shocked," said Rudy of her win. "I really didn't go into the race looking for a specific place -- my goal was to make the cut for NCAAs. Last year, I put too much pressure on myself to get certain places and times. This year, I just went out and swam and everything came up roses."

With the win, Rudy automatically earned a place at the NCAA Championshps in Austin, Texas, on March 16-18 and was named to the all-conference team. She probably will not make the trip alone. Thursday's third-place team in the 200 freestyle and Saturday's third-place team in the 400 free relay recorded times that will merit NCAA consideration.

After the championships were over, the 200 free team swam the race again to get another time to use for NCAA consideration. The Lady Lions swam faster than they did on Thursday.

Rounding out spots seven through 11 were Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State and Iowa, respectively.