Jan. 28, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's nationally ranked swimming and diving clubs are experiencing mixed results after the first day of competition at the Big Ten Tri-Quad meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The 15th-ranked men's team currently trails No. 8 Minnesota, 113-73, but leads No. 18 Wisconsin, 129-57. Purdue was boosted by victories from Steven LoBue off the 3-meter springboard, Giordan Pogioli in the 100 breaststroke, Blake Scholz in the 200 butterfly and Romain Maire in the 200 individual medley. Maire finished his race in 1:50.48, just missing his personal best by .30 seconds.
"I feel good about the way we started tonight," said men's head coach Dan Ross. "I wish we were a bit closer to Minnesota, but they are well deserving of their No. 8 national ranking. We had some great swims from Romain, Blake and Giordan, and our 800 freestyle relay."
The 800 free relay of Louis Paul, Eric Prugh, Pogioli and Romain Maire placed third at 6:40.13, but their mark was a team season best by over three seconds.
Men's diving captured three of the top five spots off the 3-meter, with LoBue and Clayton Davis both scoring over 500 points. LoBue's score of 537.00 was a lifetime and team season best and Davis contributed 502.55 points, one of his highest marks of the season. Josh Karshen placed fifth with 449.60 points.
Pogioli's time of 55.09 in the 100 breast was a season best for the All-American, but just as impressive was the 56.71 posted by teammate Dan Walter, giving him second place. Walter missed the first of half of the season, but has already recorded two second-place showings in the 100 breast since coming back Jan. 14 at Eastern Michigan.
Scholz led a Boilermaker route of the 200 fly, as the Old Gold and Black collected three of the top four places. Scholz came across first with a season-best mark of 1:49.31, while John Mullen and Mark Enoch placed third and fourth.
Mullen also was part of Purdue's second-place 200 medley relay team, which posted a time of 1:31.52. The freshman was joined on the team by Paul, Pogioli and Andre Pereira.
The women's lone win was collected by Carrie McCambridge, who dominated her competition off the 1-meter springboard. McCambridge finished with 306.50 points, beating Minnesota's Abbie Bowden by almost 30 points. The junior's point total also was two points shy of breaking the pool record of 308.45 set by Kara Hajek-Gustafson in 2002.
Jenae Gill (100 backstroke), Yvonne Laaper (1,000 free) and the 800 free relay team of Erica Chandler, Katharine Telfer, Christine Leupold and Susan Hentschel all earned runner-up points in their respective events. Gill finished her course in 57.45 seconds, while Laaper posted a lifetime best of 9:25.02.
Hentschel and Leupold posted NCAA provisional times in the 200 free, finishing third and fourth. Hentschel clocked a time of 1:50.23 and Leupold touched the wall in 1:50.32.
The 21st-ranked Purdue women find themselves trailing Minnesota, 106-80, and No. 8 Wisconsin, 101-85, but lead Illinois, 113-73.
The Tri-Quad meet picks up again Saturday at noon. Admission is free.