Nov. 4, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Both Boilermaker swimming and diving teams moved to 3-0 following Friday night's thrashings of Michigan State and Northwestern at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Purdue's 14th ranked men's team beat the No. 13 Wildcats, 171-129, and the Spartans, 237-63. The Boilermakers' 19th-ranked women's club dominated Northwestern, 208-92, and Michigan State, 235-65.
Northwesterns' squads earned a split of the triangular, beating the Spartan men, 205-91, and women, 197-103.
The night's main event was between All-Americans Mike Alexandrov of Northwestern and Purdue's Giordan Pogioli, who squared off in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and 200 individual medley.
The conference champions had a pair of close breaststroke races, with Alexandrov winning both by a few tenths of a second. Alexandrov won the 100 breast, 54.95 to 55.37, and the 200 breast, 1:57.91 to 1:58.44. Pogioli got within .02 seconds of his rival at the 150-yard mark, but Alexandrov pulled away during the final 25 yards.
In their final meeting, Alexandrov beat Pogioli in the 200 IM, 1:48.61 to 1:52.23.
Despite the individual losses, Pogioli's teammates had his back and then some, as the team's overall depth carried it to victory.
Purdue won the opening 400 medley relay, then quickly built on that lead, finishing second through fourth in the 1,000 freestyle. The Boilermakers also received first-half victories from Joe Colley in the 100 back and Blake Scholz in the 200 butterfly.
Following the first intermission, Trey Smith won the 100 free, then Romain Maire led a three-place sweep in the 200 back, essentially clinching the meet for Purdue. The Old Gold and Black received more insurance with a third through fifth-place showing in the 500 free, and later scored the second through fourth-place points in the 100 fly.
Purdue's divers had another sensational meet, sweeping the top-three spots off each springboard. Steve LoBue led the sweep off the 1-meter with 333.20 points, and Josh Karshen did the same off the 3-meter with 350.40 points. J.R. Hillis was third off each board with totals of 287.05 and 315.20 points.
Carrie McCambridge had an off meet, placing third off the 1-meter and sixth off the 3-meter; however, teammate Amanda Miller was more than willing to take her spot at the top and break two of her records in the process.
With a 3-meter score of 349.70, Miller broke McCambridge's one-week-old varsity and pool record of 339.60, which was just set last Saturday against Notre Dame. Miller didn't have as strong of a showing off the 1-meter, but still placed third with 256.10 points.
Purdue's women ran away with the meet from the very start, winning the first seven events. After claiming first in the 400 medley relay, the Boilermakers continued to build on their lead with wins in the 50, 200 and 1,000 free; 100 back and breast, and the 200 fly.
Erica Chandler was a huge part of the offense, taking first in the 200 and 500 free, and with the 400 medley and freestyle relays. Chandler won the 200 free with an NCAA provisional time of 1:48.41 and won the 500 in 4:55.03, a mark that was eight seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Also winning multiple races for Purdue were Carlene Takaki (100, 200 fly), Jennifer Lavers (100, 200 breast), Jenae Gill (400 medley, 100 back) and Kimbre Vogel (50 free, 400 free relay).
All-American Susan Hentschel made her long-awaited season debut with a second-place finish in the 100 free to NU's Andrea Hupman, 51.12 to 51.60. She later rebounded as the second leg of the victorious 400 free relay; Hentschel's 100-yard split was timed at 52.03 seconds.
The schedule gets much tougher for the Boilermakers next weekend. The men head to the Charlottesville to battle Virginia, No. 1 Auburn and Penn State in a quadrangular meet, while the women visit Columbus for a triangular with Ohio State and Michigan.