Nov. 20, 2004
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Giordan Pogioli scored in four races and the divers swept the top three spots off the 1-meter springboard, as Purdue increased its lead over No. 20 Wisconsin for second place at the Minnesota Invitational.
Through 26 events and two days of competition, the sixth-ranked Golden Gophers are in control with 882.5 points. Purdue is settled in second place with 578 points, while the Badgers are in third place with 380 points. Iowa (242.5) and North Dakota (207) round out the five-team field.
"Minnesota is the class of the Big Ten, but based on what I've seen here this weekend, I think we'll move up at the conference championships," said head coach Dan Ross. "I like the way we're handling the meet, our depth has showed up in almost every event, and we can't wait to get back up here in February."
Pogioli had a phenomenal day in the pool, winning the 100 breaststroke and finishing seventh in the 100 butterfly. He also was part of the third-place 200 medley relay team and sixth-place 800 free relay.
Pogioli won the 100 breast with a season best, meet record and NCAA provisional cut time of 55.30, which was .79 seconds faster than runner-up freshman Dragos Agache of Iowa (56.09).
In the 100 fly, which was two events prior to the 100 breast, Pogioli recorded a time of 50.41, which was slightly worse than his prelim mark of 50.12. Purdue showed substantial depth in the 100 fly with three Boilermakers (Iggy Goh, Jon Ranochak and Blake Scholz) scoring in the consolation finals.
Purdue also showed depth in the relays, as two squads scored in each race. The Boilermakers had a chance to score three teams in the 200 medley, but their `B' crew was disqualified along with a Minnesota and North Dakota squad.
In the 200 medley and 800 free relays, Purdue's `A' team placed third behind the best Golden Gophers and Badgers relays. However, the Purdue `C' teams showed remarkable speed, finishing sixth in both contests.
In the 800 free relay, the `C' squad of Steuart Martens, Pogioli, Scholz and Mark Wolfred swam a 6:54.14, and beat the `B' relays of Purdue and Wisconsin.
Purdue's top relay in the 200 medley was comprised of Louis Paul, Pogioli, Goh and Trey Smith and recorded a season best time of 1:31.53. The Boilermakers' top 800 free relay of Romain Maire, Eric Prugh, Paul and David Hedge finished in 6:43.76.
Maire's 200 free split was timed at 1:39.73, which is the team's second fastest of the season behind Paul's 1:38.96.
Maire and Paul, along with David Hughes and freshman Joe Colley combined to score 55 points in the 100 backstroke. The Dijon, France, native clocked a personal record of 49.65, which was good for fourth place. Paul, Hughes and Colley captured the sixth, seventh and 13th spots.
Ross said his team's lead over Wisconsin was built on the combined efforts of the swimmers and divers, saying "Our diving beat them yesterday, but we beat them in the pool today."
Purdue received a great deal of points from its supporting cast outside Paul, Pogioli and Maire. In the 400 individual medley, team co-captain Tony Ten Haagen's posted a seventh-place time of 4:06.70. Fellow co-captain Eric Prugh scored 13 points with his sixth-place showing in the 200 free.
Senior Clay Davis won the 1-meter springboard competition with a total of 320.60 points, leading a second Purdue sweep in as many days. Steve LoBue was runner-up at 303.40 and yesterday's 3-meter champion Josh Karshen was third with 291.00 points. David Hanisch, J.R. Hillis and Bob Hennessy also added to Purdue's point total, combining for 29 points.
The tandem of Carrie McCambridge and Amanda Miller was nearly as good, as McCambridge won the 3-meter title with a season best score of 523.70 points. Miller came in seventh with 451.65 points.
Although Purdue only brought four divers to compete in Minnesota, the Boilermakers are seventh in the team standings. Their 60 points are ahead of Saint Cloud State (51), St Olaf (20), Gustavus Adolphus (16) and South Dakota State (8).
Purdue concludes its stay in the Twin Cities on Sunday. Prelims start at 10 a.m. and finals get underway at 3 p.m.