Dec. 4, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - No. 17 Purdue finished the first half of its 2003-04 campaign with a flawless 4-0 dual record, after topping Southern Illinois and Iowa Saturday afternoon at the IUPUI Natatorium. The meet was co-hosted by Indiana, however, the intrastate rivals were not in direct scoring competition, and won't meet head-to-head until Feb. 5.
Purdue beat Southern Illinois 180.5-117.5, and Iowa 208-86. No. 14 Indiana also crushed its competition, beating the Salukis 156-131, and the Hawkeyes 185.5-93.5. SIU beat Iowa 187-105.
Although Purdue would beat its Saluki and Hawkeye competitors through many events, it would also finish behind the Hoosiers. Iggy Goh earned first-place points in the 50 free (21.21), but was the runner-up to IU's Colin Russell (20.88). The same situation applied off the 1-meter springboard, where Clay Davis (306.20) and Steve LoBue (305.20) finished thrid and fourth overall, but first and second against their Iowa and Southern Illinois competitors.
IU's Marc Carlton and Taylor Roberts captured the top-two spots off the 1-meter with their scores of 312.45 and 310.90. Off the 3-meter, Roberts (325.85) and Carlton (321.20) swapped places and LoBue took third with 299.20 points.
Purdue scored it's first true win of the afternoon in the 200 butterfly, as Blake Scholz touched the wall in 1:52.98. The Boilermakers also secured the second and third-place points in this race from the efforts of Mark Enoch (1:53.93) and Craig Thompson (1:54.04).
Louis Paul had a strong meet, finishing first overall in the 100 freestyle over IU's Russell, 45.57 to 46.05. Paul's time was a season best, beating his previous mark by .09 seconds. Earlier in the meet, Paul was the runner-up to SIU's Marcelo Possato in the 100 back, coming across in 50.21. Possato, who went on to win the 200 back (1:46.63), won the 100 with a mark of 49.08.
SIU swimmers also captured the 1,000 and 200 free titles with Jason Sigler and Anotonio Santoro helping to secure their team's win over Iowa.
Giordan Pogioli dominated his competition in the 200 breaststroke, beating the 13-man field by over seven seconds. Pogioli touched first with a season best and NCAA provisional mark of 1:58.50; runner-up Elliot Ptsanik of Iowa came across in 2:05.53. IU's top breaststroke swimmer, Kevin Swander, placed third at 2:06.67.
Pogioli did not compete in the 100 breast, which Swander won with a mark of 57.34. In the 200 individual medley, Pogioli finished as the runner-up to Indiana's Todd Patrick, 1:50.66 to 1:52.76.
The Boilermakers next compete on Jan. 8 at the Florida Atlantic Invitational; however, the divers start a few days earlier on Jan. 3 at the Georgia Invitational.