TERRE HAUTE —
John Huster is a familiar name in local swimming circles, although not having been a competitive swimmer for as long as you might think.
Still, the former Terre Haute North standout, currently a sophomore at Rose-Hulman, has made an impact in his relative few years in swimming.
Huster still owns the 100 backstroke school record set during his senior season, capping off a stellar four-year career at North. But in just his second season at Rose, Huster already owns two — count ’em — Rose school marks.
Huster is atop the Rose leaderboard in the 100 backstroke (51.94 seconds) and is a member of the fastest 200 medley relay (1:36.84).
He also the second-best marks in three other events, as a member of the 200 medley relay (1:36.84), 400 freestyle relay (3:11.81) and 400 medley relay (3:34.06).
He has also been honored as a two-time College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin swimmer of the week, once in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.
“I started swimming my freshman year of high school,” Huster said before a recent practice. “I’m not really burned out.
Some of the kids I’ve talked to have been swimming their whole life and they’re kind of burned out. I’ve only been swimming five or six years. It’s still fun and I enjoy it.”
Huster downplayed owning the school record in the 100 backstroke at North, saying, “That’s the only record I have, but we took several relays to state several years.”
Can you explain your rapid rise in success since becoming a collegiate swimmer?
“Coach [Keith] Crawford [of Rose-Hulman] is doing a good job of riding practices and getting us into shape,” the mechanical engineering major said. “His workouts are really working for me. I’ve dropped times, it seems, like in every meet.
“I don’t know if I expected to do this well. I mean, I expected to drop time, maybe not as much time as I dropped this year. We’ll wait and see how much time I drop this year at [CCIW]. I’m happy with the time I’ve dropped.”
Crawford, a third-year coach of the Engineers, is very pleased to have Huster leading his team.
“John is a strong contributor in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke … those are his two primary events,” he said. “He provisionally qualified [NCAA Division III Nationals] a year ago in both of those events. Pretty close to national qualifying times in both those [this year]. He’s also strong in the 1,500 freestyle.”
Personal goals this season?
“Hopefully I can get the nationals cut for the 100 fly and 100 back,” Huster replied. “Need to drop about a second and a half. [Automatic qualification] is my goal. But if I get close and get pulled in, that would be good, too.”
Huster is at Rose primarily for the academics and bright future afforded its graduates. Still, he enjoys being able to continue his competitive swimming career.
“Rose was my first choice, academics definitely,” Huster stated. “Swimming is kind of a release from stress from school for me. So it’s nice to have around.”
• Men’s team doing well also — As mentioned before, Rose is enjoying a resurgence in the men’s swimming program, thanks to a strong youth movement.
“We’re having one of our better years in school history,” Crawford stated. “I would say our top two performances of the year is tying Wabash College in a dual meet, then we were third in the DePauw Invitational.
While that doesn’t sound like a strong endorsement of their season, that is a huge improvement over the recent past.
“We only had one previous victory over Wabash, so to tie them on that day was a significant accomplishment,” Crawford noted. “Our highest finish we’ve ever had at the DePauw Invitational.”
Huster is not the only success story for the Engineers, Crawford stressed.
Matt Ross, a sophomore, “is going to be very close to qualifying in the 200 butterfly”. Ross was a championship finalist in the CCIW meet in the 400 IM and 200 butterfly last year, then finished in the top three in all his individual events at the DePauw Invitational.
Andrew Pogorski, a freshman, “has potential to qualify for the national meet in the 100 breaststroke.”
“Coach did a good job recruiting freshmen this year,” Huster added. “Pogorski, Logan Ryan, Aaron Foreman. We’re all just doing good this year. Dropping time, moving up, doing good.”
Rose-Hulman
Pooling his talent at Rose
North grad Huster strokes to next level
- Rose-Hulman
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Rose-Hulman swimmers flying to nationals
Rose-Hulman swimmers John Craig Huster and Orion Martin have qualified for the Division III national meet in the 100 butterfly
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Despite four NCAA Division III titles, Rose-Hulman’s Liz Evans remains as driven as ever
Even though Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans has won four NCAA Division III titles in the women’s high jump, getting motivated is still easy for her.
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Balsbaugh’s late-season scoring giving Rose-Hulman a lift
If someone were to predict before last weekend that Rose-Hulman would capture its second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in men’s basketball and that senior Brenton Balsbaugh would be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, fans probably would believe the first statement but consider the second as wishful thinking.
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Rose-Hulman baseball team kicking off season in Florida
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Rose-Hulman men clinch conference title
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No. 23 Rose-Hulman takes down No. 22 Transylvania on the road
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Rose-Hulman 18-2 after pulling away from Anderson
Rose-Hulman opened the second half on a 20-3 run to pull away and earn a convincing 71-40 men’s basketball victory at Anderson University on Wednesday night.
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Freshman paces Engineer women to HCAC win
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Rose men top Franklin
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Rose men run winning steak to 11 games
Anderson arrived in Terre Haute with a 7-6 record and a scoring average of 76.5 points per game.
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Anderson holds off rally by Rose women
Rose-Hulman rallied from an 11-point deficit to close within three points late, but Anderson University held on to earn a 64-57 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
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Rose-Hulman men ranked 26th in Division III
Rose-Hulman’s men’s basketball team is ranked 26th nationally in the d3hoops.com national weekly poll released on Thursday.
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Gerken hits game-winner to put Rose-Hulman at 9-1 on season
Making the game-winning shot, with what turned out to be seven-tenths of a second to go, was probably the easy part for Jon Gerken on Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose women struggle from field in loss to Hanover
In the Rose-Hulman women’s college basketball game, frigid shooting undermined good work the Engineers did in other aspects of the game against Hanover.
The Engineers came out on the wrong end, 55-43. -
Efficient Engineers stifle Millikin
The word that probably best describes the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team is efficiency.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball regains Clabber Girl Trophy
Rose-Hulman reclaimed the Clabber Girl Trophy for the first time since 2009 with an 80-74 women’s basketball victory over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Tuesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Balanced Rose tops Fontbonne
Senior forward Nate Gissentanner came off the bench to deliver 14 points for balanced Rose-Hulman in a 72-54 men’s basketball victory over Fontbonne University on Wednesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose-Hulman men's basketball preview: Engineers looking to follow up last year’s success
It’s pretty safe to say that expectations for the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team have not been this high since the late 1990s when the Engineers reached the NCAA Division III tournament three times within a four-year period.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball preview: Engineers continuing to improve
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team didn’t dominate many opponents last season when it ended up with records of 9-18 overall and 6-12 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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Earlham tragedy leads to Rose football cancellation
Little did Rose-Hulman’s football players and coaches know, their 42-8 home victory over Anderson University last Saturday turned out to be their final game of the season.
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This weekend's Rose-Hulman vs. Earlham football game canceled
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Anderson squeaks past Rose-Hulman
Anderson University scored in the 11th minute and held off a Rose-Hulman charge to earn a 1-0 men's soccer victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal match on Wednesday night at the Engineer Intramural Field.
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Rose swimmers near top because of vets, youth
Rose-Hulman swimming depth is at an all-time high, putting the Engineers at No. 15 in the NCAA Division III national rankings.
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A bigger taste?
On the night of Oct. 14, Rose-Hulman basketball fans were treated to something described by a couple of men’s players as “spectacular” and “epic” when they all jammed into Hulbert Arena for the insititute’s first “Midnight Madness” to tip off a season.
The memorable site wasn’t a 360-degree dunk or a no-look, behind-the-back pass.
It was Rose men’s coach Jim Shaw performing the “Bernie Dance,” based on the deceased character from the 1989 movie “Weekend At Bernie’s.”
“For a second, I thought he was having a seizure,” senior starting guard Austin Weatherford said with a straight face later. -
Rose women picked for 6th
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of league coaches released Tuesday.
Hanover and Franklin were selected for first and second respectively, with just two poll points separating the two squads. -
Rose-Hulman no match for Franklin
Franklin showcased its No. 23 NCAA Division III ranking from d3football.com in a 56-0 victory over Rose-Hulman in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football Saturday.
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Rose blanks Woods 3-0 in women’s soccer
Rose-Hulman women’s soccer coach Amy Helliwell is riding a youth movement to what she hopes could produce a strong turnaround in this 2012 season.
It has so far.
Led by freshman Hayley Gilliam, a Zionsville native, the Engineers improved to 5-4-1 for the season with a dominant 3-0 victory against cross-county rival St. Mary-of-the-Woods College on Wednesday at Jim Rendel Field. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Engineers dominate HCAC honors
Rose-Hulman Institute student-athletes earned three Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards, in results released by the league office on Monday.
West Vigo graduate John Burt was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Schaible the Special Teams Player of the Week in football, and B.J. Thompson earned Player of the Week honors in men’s soccer.
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Snyder throws for two early TDs in Rose-Hulman victory
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Rose’s record setter
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