Husker swim team takes shaky season in stride

Yet again, the Nebraska swimming program finds itself on the bottom of the Big 12 Conference scrap heap.

The Huskers finished last out of six teams at this weekend's league championship. Nebra ska's 261 points were 77 behind fifth-place Iowa State, and 741 behind champion Texas A&M.

This year's team was unquestionably young, with 21 freshmen and sophomores between the swimming and diving team. But it remains to be seen if the program can take the next step to get out of the conference's cellar.

"We're very excited about this year's team," assistant coach Doug Humphrey said before the season began. "The potential of this team is enormous. It's not like we can't win big this year, but this is definitely a team that will get better over time."

He was right. After an early season defeat to Illinois at the Devaney Natatorium, Nebraska rallied to assert home-pool dominance, finishing first in all five meets and competitions afterward, including a win over Iowa State, its only Big 12 win on the season.

"The talent we have on this team is very good," Humphrey said. "Now that the young girls have more experience, road meets should be easier in the future. We have nowhere to go but up."

Perhaps the best example of the talent Humphrey referred to is senior Kaitlin Arntz, who qualified for NCAA competitions this year after a strong performance in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Big 12 Championships.

"I was hoping to do well, but I didn't think I would qualify for nationals," Arntz said. "I am very exciting to compete at nationals and represent the university there."

While Arntz may be surprised at her success, other members of the team are not.

"To see her accomplish something the team knew she could for four years was terrific," NU's Mariah Hutchinson said. "As hard as she worked, she definitely deserved her accomplishment."

But accomplishments in general were a rare sight for the Husker swim team. Still, the team saw a large contribution from what Humphrey called "one of our best recruiting classes." While others might focus on Nebraska's last-place finish, these young swimmers are looking forw ard to next year.

"Next year, I'll be an even better swimmer," NU freshman Ellan Dufour said. "For me, it was a difficult transition to university life. I take some of the blame for our bad finish at the Big 12 Championship, but taking sixth doesn't take away from our performance. There are so many swimmers with so much talent."

These freshmen will be bolstered with another recruiting class Humphrey calls "maybe even as good as this class." Perhaps as vital to the team's success next year will be the improvement of the diving team, which struggled this year while fighting youth and injury issues.