Nov. 12, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 20 Purdue upset No. 14 Northwestern, 152-148, Friday afternoon, giving the Boilermakers their third win over a nationally ranked opponent in as many weeks. Purdue also has beaten No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 15 Arizona State.
"We knew heading into this meet, that our divers were going to have to sweep both boards, and they did just that; they were phenomenal," said men's head coach Dan Ross. "The swimmers and divers are ecstatic after a win like this. It's great to see them come together after a win and congratulate one another."
In addition to the divers' three-place sweeps off both springboards, Ross also utilized some lineup changes to keep the team close through the very end.
"I had to take some chances in some events, shift some people around, and fortunately those moves paid off," said Ross.
With two events left, and the meet still up for grabs, Ross moved senior Eric Prugh into the 200 individual medley and then handed Prugh's anchor spot in the 400 freestyle relay to Louis Paul.
The moved paid off as Prugh finished fourth in the 200 IM, behind Paul and runner-up Giordan Pogioli, giving the Boilermakers some additional points.
Still resting on the cushion diving provided, all Purdue had to do was finish second and third in the 400 free relay in order to win the meet. And with Paul anchoring the Boilermakers' `B' relay, that goal was accomplished. Paul's 100 free split was timed at 44.71, as he moved his relay from fourth to third place.
In addition to his late heroics, Paul also won the 100 (45.74) and 200 free (1:39.90), beating his Wildcat competition by nearly a second in each contest.
Another move cited by Ross that paid off, was bringing freshman Romain Maire into the 200 butterfly. Maire, who is primarily a backstroker, finished second in the event at 1:52.67 behind teammate Blake Scholz (1:52.32).
Maire also finished second in the 200 back (1:50.70) behind NU All-American Matt Grevers (1:48.13). Without Maire in the 100 back, freshman Joe Colley (51.73) and senior David Hughes (52.79) responded accordingly, scoring the second and third-place points.
Pogioli also had a solid meet, but could not find a way to top NU's Mike Alexandrov. The Wildcat freshman bested the Purdue junior in both breaststroke races and in the 200 IM.
In diving, the question was not is Purdue going to win, but who was going to win for Purdue. Last week's Big Ten Diver of the Week, Steve LoBue, won the 1-meter title with a score of 318.90, as teammates Clay Davis (318.83) and Josh Karshen (300.23) finished close behind.
Karshen and LoBue then swapped places off the 3-meter, as the senior won with 311.63 points. Davis again was a close runner-up at 310.35, and LoBue settled for a score of 302.10.
Purdue competes again next weekend at the three-day Minnesota Invitational. This is the first of three premier events hosted by the Golden Gophers, as they also will welcome the Big Ten and NCAA men's championships.