Local Sports News: March 14, 2024

12 Indiana University Men’s Swimmers advance to the NCAA Championships
The Big Ten Champion three years running, Indiana men’s swimming and diving will send 12 swimmers to the 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships following the NCAA’s announcement of invitations to the national meet on Wednesday. The Indiana men will compete in their backyard as the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis will play host to the competition. The meet will run over four days, March 27-30. Fans can purchase tickets here.

Indiana can add more qualifiers via the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships this week in Louisville, Kentucky. Hoosiers with NCAA zone qualifying marks during the season will compete to advance from the regional meet. Including the five relays, Indiana will have competitors in 18 events. IU is well-represented in the two breaststroke events, with four Hoosiers qualified for each. Indiana will also have three swimmers each in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly.

INDIANA MEN’S SWIMMING QUALIFIERS- 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Toby Barnett- 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
Luke Barr- 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 IM
Finn Brooks- 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly
Brendan Burns – 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly
Tristian DeWitt- 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Tomer Frankel – 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly
Rafael Miroslaw- 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle
Josh Matheny- 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Maxwell Reich- 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Armando Vegas- 200 butterfly
Kai van Westering- 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Jassen Yep – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
200-yard freestyle relay
400-yard freestyle relay
800-yard freestyle relay
200-yard medley relay
400-yard medley relay

Indiana University Diving Seeks NCAA Spots with Zone C Championships in Louisville
Indiana University Swimming and Diving will attempt to build on its rosters for the NCAA Championships this week at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, today through Saturday inside the Ralph Wright Natatorium on the campus of the University of Louisville. Zone championships act as diving’s regional qualifying meet for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. All 10 Hoosier divers that have competed this season tallied NCAA Zone Qualifying marks this season, allowing them the chance to advance to the national meet this week. Indiana was the top-scoring diving program at last season’s championships, totaling 139 points between its men’s and women’s teams. The IU men scored 104 of those points as Andrew Capobianco and Carson Tyler won national titles on the 3-meter springboard and platform, respectively.  

Zone C has the following qualifying spots available for each event:

 1-meter3-meterPlatform
Women71111
Men7108

Divers that finish within the spots available automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in that event. A diver may qualify for a second or third event by finishing top 12 in those competitions. SCHEDULED EVENTS
Today (1 p.m. ET): Women’s 1-meter, men’s 3-meter
Friday (1 p.m. ET): Women’s 3-meter, men’s 1-meter
Saturday (11 a.m. ET): Platform

Indiana University Men’s Golf Ties for Fourth at the Seminole Intercollegiate
Indiana University Men’s Golf shot an 881 (297-293-291; +17) and tied for fourth at the Seminole Intercollegiate played from March 11-12 at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club. Senior Drew Salyers paced the Hoosiers with a t-19 finish after shooting a 221 (72-77-72; +5). His three rounds consisted of six total birdies.
Sixth-year senior Noah Gillard finished strong to tie for 23rd at 222 (75-76-71; +6). He made a team-best 10 birdies throughout the tournament.
Freshman Cole Starnes matched Gillard with a scorecard of 222 (75-74-73; +6) to tie for 23rd. He knocked down eight birdie attempts. Graduate Thomas Hursey placed t-35th after shooting a 225 (75-70-80; +9). He second round of 70 (-2) included four birdies. His week included seven total birdies.
Redshirt junior Robert Bender III tied for 35th with a three-round scorecard reading of 225 (77-73-75; +9). He finished the week with five birdie conversions.
Competing as an individual, junior Kieran Hogarth shot a 238 (77-78-83; +22).

Chipotle Nationals HS Basketball Tournament Boys and Girls Field are announced
The matchups are set for Chipotle Nationals, which is scheduled for April 4-6 at Brownsburg high school just west of Indianapolis. The event will crown the national champion in the MaxPreps National Top 10 with each of the top five teams participating in the field. It could also have bearing on the national champion in the MaxPreps Top 25 as each of the top two teams in the poll are participating in the event as well. The 15th annual event sees one first-time participant as MaxPreps Top 25 No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) joins returning national powerhouses Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) in the eight-team field.

The three-day tournament is live streaming on ESPN family of networks (schedule below) and features 13 five-star prospects, including top five prospects Cooper Flagg of Montverde Academy, V.J. Edgecombe of Long Island Lutheran, A.J. Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes of Prolific Prep, Cameron Boozer of Columbus and Darius Acuff of IMG Academy. Montverde Academy (31-0) makes its 13th appearance breaking a tie with Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) for the most appearances in event history. The Eagles receive the top seed in the event and are favorites to capture their seventh championship at the event. The perennial powerhouse has a first-round rematch with an AZ Compass Prep (27-5) unit they bested 58-46 on Dec. 9.

After running the table in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference play and capturing their third consecutive VISAA Division I state title, MaxPreps Top 25 No. 2 Paul VI makes its second appearance in the event as the No. 2 seed. The Panthers have a first-round rematch against an IMG Academy (20-8) squad they beat 71-70 in the City of Palms Classic quarterfinals on Dec. 21. Prolific Prep (31-5) received a favorable three seed in their fourth appearance in the event. After the Crew lost in the first round of the tournament last year as a two seed to drop to 2-3 all-time at the event, the talent-rich roster has the pieces to break through for their first national title. The Crew have a rematch with a Link Academy (20-6) team they took down 77-76 back on Dec. 2. Despite beating the three teams ranked directly ahead of them in the field, Columbus (27-4) received the No. 5 seed in the field after capturing their third consecutive FHSAA Class 7A state title. The Explorers have a first-round rematch with a four-seed Long Island Lutheran (21-4) team that they blew past 81-62 in January at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

The field of the Chipotle Nationals high school girls’ basketball tournament was announced highlighted by two teams featured prominently in the MaxPreps Top 25. The event will take place April 4-6 in Brownsburg, Ind. The event is formerly known as the GEICO Nationals. No. 1 Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) is the top seed followed by second-seed Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), which is No. 4 in the MaxPreps Top 25. Both received first-round byes in the six-team field. No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), No. 9 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), No. 18 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.) and Grace Christian (Sanford, N.C.) round out the field. Montverde Academy is the two-time reigning champion, beating Long Island Lutheran 60-54 in last year’s final. The Eagles also won the inaugural event in 2022. Long Island Lutheran is competing for the second time while the remaining schools are competing in the year-end tournament for the first time.

McDonald’s All Americans Kate Koval, Kayleigh Heckel and Syla Swords lead a Long Island Lutheran team full of Power 5 conference players. Grayson capped a perfect season by winning Georgia’s AAAAAAA title behind Danielle Carnegie, Tatum Brown and Malaya Jones. Montverde Academy is led by 2023-24 Florida MaxPreps Player of the Year Jaloni Cambridge, who is averaging just over 20 points per game. Sidwell Friends is led by UCLA commits Kendall Dudley and Zania Socka. IMG Academy is paced by Taj Roberts and Leah Harmon.  Grace Christian is 30-0 and led by ESPN’s top-rated Class of 2024 player Sarah Strong, who still hasn’t announced her college commitment.

Indianapolis Colts Sign free agent Defensive Tackle Raekwon Davis
The Indianapolis Colts have finally landed a veteran free agent. The team has agreed to a two-year, $14 million contract with nose tackle Raekwon Davis, according to his agency, Athletes First. The 6-7, 325-pound Davis was a second-round pick of Miami in 2020. He started 48 of 63 games with the Dolphins, including seven last season. In his career, Davis has 129 tackles, including five for a loss, two sacks and 10 quarterback hits. Davis is the first player added by the Colts from the veteran market. Previously, they had re-signed or extended six players: Michael Pittman Jr., Kenny Moore II, Zaire Franklin, Grover Stewart, Tyquan Lewis and Rigoberto Sanchez.

Indiana Pacers beat the West Leading Oklahoma City Thunder on the road
Myles Turner bristled when a reporter suggested that Indiana’s win over Oklahoma City should be considered a big deal. “We’re a good team that scores a lot of points too,” Turner said. “That’s mostly what this league has come to. The difference tonight was our defense. Whenever we lock in on that side, it’s a different game for us.” Turner scored 24 points to help the Pacers defeat the Thunder 121-111 on Tuesday night. Tyrese Haliburton had 18 points and 12 assists and Pascal Siakam added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 53.9% from the field and snapped Oklahoma City’s three-game win streak. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Siakam was important on both ends. Indiana added him in a deal with Toronto in January. “Games like tonight are the reason you make a trade for a guy like Pascal Siakam,” Carlisle said. “He can create, he has length defensively, he can affect shots at the rim defensively and he rebounds.” The Pacers held Oklahoma City to 43.4% shooting. “They missed some shots they normally make probably,” Carlisle said. “But our guys were working to make it hard on them.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Lu Dort scored 18 points and Chet Holmgren added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who fell into a tie with the Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference standings. “Just too many possessions where we weren’t leveraging each other and working together, which is a good lesson,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “You know, the game gets a lot harder when we do that. So again, we got to learn from it, look at it. We’re not going to be perfect every night. There are lessons in every game. We’re going to learn them from this one.” Gordon Hayward got his first start in 11 games since being traded to Oklahoma City and scored nine points in 30 minutes. He started in place of Jalen Williams, who was out with a sprained right ankle. Williams is Oklahoma City’s No. 2 scorer this season with 19 points per game.

Indiana led 56-40 with just over a minute left in the first half before the Thunder started rolling. Oklahoma City cut its deficit to 58-46 at halftime, then opened the second half on an 8-2 run to trim its deficit to 60-54. The Thunder finally tied the game at 80 on a 3-pointer by Lu Dort with about three minutes left in the quarter and took and 85-84 lead in a 3-pointer by Isaiah Joe a minute later. Indiana closed the quarter strong to take a 94-87 lead into the fourth. Indiana led 115-109 with 45.6 seconds to play and had the ball. Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort was called for fouling Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard on the arm late in the shot clock, and Oklahoma City challenged. It was unsuccessful, and Nembhard made both free throws to help Indiana remain in control. “I thought they showed great resilience,” Daigneault said of the Pacers. “Credit them. They played really well from the jump. And then fended off a couple different runs of ours in the second half on the road, showed great poise. So, they definitely deserve a lot of credit.”

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