March 25, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Giordan Pogioli finished fourth in the consolation finals of the 100 breaststroke and 12th overall, giving him his first honorable mention All-America citation in this event, plus five extra points for the Boilermakers in the team standings.
Purdue has 19 points and is currently in 21st place after two full days of competition. Atop the standings are defending champion Auburn (338 points), followed by Stanford (300) and Arizona (292). Cal (264) and Florida (202) round out the top five.
"I'm very pleased with Giordan's performance," said head coach Dan Ross. "Maybe he could have gone faster, but I was happy with his splits and it was the second fastest time of his career, so you can't really ask him for a better effort."
Pogioli finished in 54.13, which was slightly slower than his prelim mark of 54.11 from Friday afternoon; his times are the two fastest of his career. A naitve of Peoria, Ill., Pogioli hit the 25-yard mark in eighth place with a split of 12.04, but made up a few places during the final 75 yards. His 50-yard split was timed at 25.75 and his 75-yard split was clocked at 39.82.
"I was happy to score in the consolations and get some points for the team, that's what I came here to do," said Pogioli. "I also wanted to swim under the 54 second mark and break Tamas' (Bessenyei) record, but it just didn't happen."
Pogioli, an All-American in the 200 breast last season, hopes his success will carry over into tomorrow's race.
"I don't know what to expect other than to swim my fastest," said Pogioli. "I really want to go faster than 1:54.00 and hopefully that will put me back into the top four."
Senior Gary Marshall of Stanford won the 100 breast title in 52.68, beating out Mihaly Falsakay of USC (52.92) and Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov (52.95) for the gold medal. The consolation final champion was Caleb Rowe of Cal, who clocked a time of 53.79.
Ross has said that Saturday will be Purdue's best day of the championships. Pogioli is seeded 13th in the 200 breast, while Louis Paul and Romain Maire are seeded 8th and 18th in the 200 back. Diver Steve LoBue also will engage in his top event, the platform tower.
"Tomorrow's going to be our best day of competition," said Ross. "I'm sure we'll continue to build on our point total and pass a few teams in the process. To have a chance to finish in the top 20 without a relay team is remarkable."