Feb. 25, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Josh Karshen was in the zone. The senior earned over 70 points on his final three dives off the platform and was minutes away from becoming the first Big Ten Diving Champion in school history.
Then IU's Brian Mariano - the last diver of the night - reminded everyone that Hoosier diving is still king.
Mariano struggled on his third (39.60) and fourth (30.45) dives but hit pay dirt on his final two attempts, scoring 80 points on an inward 3.5 somersault tuck and 86.70 points on a back 2.5 somersault with 1.5 twists.
Karshen led the eight-man field by more than 80 points after he completed his sixth and final dive, giving himself a personal record of 385.15 points. But his total wasn't enough as Mariano came through for the hometown crowd with 391.85 points.
Mariano's performance was the perfect ending for the IU faithful, which saw its team win the Big Ten Championship with 760.5 points. Defending champion Minnesota was a distant second with 652 points.
Purdue settled for a sixth-place total of 346 points, which was just five points lower than its 2005 conference championship total. Ohio State was fifth with 357.5 points, which represented a 64.5-point turnaround from last year's total. "I'm bitter about our finish, but our team responded the best it could and I'm proud of its effort," said head coach Dan Ross. "There were some tears shed at the end of the meet, but I didn't want them to feel sorry because they went out there and gave their all."
Karshen wasn't the first Boilermaker forced to don the silver medal. Senior Giordan Pogioli was the runner-up to Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov in the 200 breaststroke by just .04 seconds, 1:55.19 to 1:55.23.
Sophomores Romain Maire and Jin-Soo Kim and freshman Zach Schultz scored among the top eight in their respective events. Maire was fourth in the 200 backstroke with a personal best of 1:44.82 and Schultz was seventh off the platform with 284.95 points. Kim placed eighth in the 200 breast with a mark of 2:01.80.
The Boilermakers had three swimmers score in the consolations of the 200 butterfly with Chris Etherington, Joe Colley and Luke Zehrung finishing in the 14th to 16 spots. Junior Steve Miskovetz also earned a point for his 16th-place showing in the 200 breaststroke.
Purdue completed the meet with a ninth-place and season best time of 2:59.71 in the 400 freestyle relay. Junior Trey Smith's leadoff split of 44.87 was a personal record.
Big Ten Awards
Co-Swimmer of the Year: Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan/Matt Grevers, Northwestern
Swimming and Diving Freshman of the Year: Nick Walkotten, Indiana
Swimming Coach of the Year: Ray Looze, Indiana
Diving Coach of the Year: Adam Soldati, Purdue
Swimmer of the Championships: Kevin Swander, Indiana
Co-Diver of the Year: Brian Mariano, Indiana/Steven LoBue, Purdue
Diver of the Championships: Brian Mariano, Indiana
First Team All-Big Ten
Indiana: Thomas Clavier, Ben Hesen, Brian Mariano, Todd Patrick, Taylor Roberts, Kevin Swander
Michigan: Chris DeJong, Matt Patton, Bobby Savulich, Davis Tarwater, Alex Vanderkaay, Peter Vanderkaay
Minnesota: Igor Cerensek, Mario Delac, Adam Mitchell, Tyler Schmidt
Northwestern: Mike Alexandrov, Kyle Bubolz, Ben Dexter, Matt Grevers
Penn State: Mike Alderman
Second Team All-Big Ten
Indiana: Sergiy Fesenko, Nick Walkotten
Michigan: Bryan Vessels
Minnesota: Michael Woodson
Northwestern: Eric Nilsson
Ohio State: Kellen Harkness
Purdue: Josh Karshen, Steve LoBue, Giordan Pogioli