Jan. 29, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 15 Purdue dropped its first dual meet of the season Saturday, splitting a triangular meet with No. 8 Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers beat the Badgers, 212-141, but fell to the Golden Gophers, 218-135.
Purdue's record now stands at 10-1, and 4-1 in the Big Ten.
Despite the split, men's head coach Dan Ross was pleased with the final results, since his club lost by more than 100 points to Minnesota last season. Wisconsin also got the best of Purdue last year, beating them by almost 50 points.
"I was pleased to see how well we handled Wisconsin, but we were lucky, because we did not prepare for today's events like we did yesterday," said Ross. "I was glad to close the gap on Minnesota, but they're the eighth best team in the nation and proved it this weekend."
Purdue's big three of Louis Paul, Romain Maire and Giordan Pogioli continued to have a breakout meet, as Paul won the 200 backstroke with a season best of 1:47.28 and Pogioli won the 200 breaststroke in 1:59.59. Maire was the runner-up in the 400 individual medley, coming across in 3:56.91.
Should Purdue's "Big Three" ever expand, the group could include newcomer Jin-Soo Kim. In his first weekend of collegiate competition, Kim placed fourth in the 200 IM (1:52.48) and was second to Pogioli in the 200 breast (2:03.51).
"I was very impressed with Jin-Soo; for him to score against two nationally recognized teams right out of the gate is remarkable," said Ross. "He's a great competitor, loves to race and is mentally and physically tough, and he'll only get tougher."
Purdue diving also scored a ton of points Saturday, as Steven LoBue and Carrie McCambridge completed their springboard sweeps. LoBue won the 1-meter crown with 295.60 points and McCambridge scored a season best tally of 524.10 points in 3-meter competition.
The Purdue men captured five of the top six spots off the 1-meter, with Clay Davis, Josh Karshen, David Hanisch and J.R. Hillis coming in behind LoBue. Amanda Miller assisted McCambridge off the 3-meter with a fourth-place score of 432.65 points.
The women's team could only muster a few top three showings during the second day of competition, and as a result fell to both Minnesota, 192-161, and No. 8 Wisconsin, 210-143. However, the Boilermakers defeated Illinois, 209-144, giving them a final dual record of 4-4, and 3-3 in the Big Ten.
Purdue's second place 200 freestyle relay squad of Tracy Duchac, Lauren Willis, Kimbre Vogel and Susan Hentschel started the meet with a time of 1:34.83, but managed three top-three showings the rest of the way: Jennifer Merte in the 400 IM (4:27.42), Christine Leupold in the 100 free (51.04) and the 400 free relay (3:26.79).
Purdue's women won't compete again until the Big Ten Championships, however, the men play host to Indiana next Saturday. Ross is expecting to see the best dual meet of the season from both teams.
"IU is probably getting excited after looking at our results from over the weekend," said Ross. "On paper, their swimmers are faster than ours, and they have every right to boast about having the best divers in the conference, but we have excellent divers too.
"Our swimmers have been consistently faster as the year progresses, and that's what I want to see. We need to swim our fastest next week and head into Big Ten's with our best marks of the season."
The Crimson and Gold Cup clash begins at 1 p.m in the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Admission is free.