Nov. 19, 2004
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Mark Wolfred, Louis Paul, Giordan Pogioli and Romain Maire all finished among the top eight Friday afternoon at the Minnesota Invitational. Wolfred will swim in the `A' finals of the 500 freestyle, while the others compete in the 200 individual medley.
Paul led the Boilermakers with a fourth-place finish of 1:51.76. Pogioli came in sixth at 1:53.23, and Maire placed eighth with a mark of 1:53.66.
Wisconsin's Adam Mania along with Minnesota's Adam Mitchell and Justin Mortimer tied for first place in the 200 IM prelims at 1:51.27, according to live results posted by Minnesota.
Wolfred, who swam a season-best mark of 4:37.81, was one of five Boilermakers to qualify for a night swim in the 500 free. Steuart Martens, Eric Prugh and David Hedge placed among the top 16 and will compete in the `B' finals. Freshman Matt Dugan competes in the `C' finals.
Trey Smith and Iggy Goh slipped into the `B' finals of the 50 free. Smith tied for 14th place with Iowa's Alex Boyce at 21.33, and Goh came in 16th at 21.40.
All of Purdue's relays and divers compete tonight, beginning at 7 p.m. with the 200 free relay.
The Minnesota Invititational's night session is split into three sets of finals. The `C' finals feature the 17th through 24th placewinners, while the `B' finals showcase the 9th through 16th placewinners. The top eight finishers compete last in the `A' finals.
The five Division I participants at the Minnesota Invitational (Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota) are the only teams competing in the finals. South Dakota State, St. Cloud State, Carleton College, Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf, only competed in prelims.