Jan. 28, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - For the second straight year, No. 14 Purdue split its Big Ten Triangular with Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Boilermakers dropped the Badgers, 227-126, but lost to the Golden Gophers, 219-134.
"I'm very pleased with our effort," said men's head coach Dan Ross. "We competed hard, recorded a number of season best times - and none of it came easy, which is good for us. It was a really intense weekend for our team, but we still have one more meet left, so we're ready to come home and go back to work."
Purdue collected three wins Saturday. Freshman Chris Etherington won the 100 fly with a personal best of 48.70, Giordan Pogioli took first in the 200 breast in 1:58.72 and Josh Karshen was victorious off the platform with a season-best total of 322.13 points.
Sophomore Romain Maire also scored a handful of points, taking runner-up honors in the 400 individual medley at 3:59.26 and was third in the 200 back at 1:48.12.
Jin-Soo Kim had a solid showing in the 200 breast, coming in second behind Pogioli at 2:02.87. Etherington led off the meet with a 50 free split of 21.05 in the 200 free relay, which is one of his and the team's fastest marks of this season. His 100 fly mark just missed the NCAA provisional standard by a few hundredths of a second.
Purdue (5-5) wraps its regular season next weekend at Indiana, which is Ross' pick to win the Big Ten Championship. The Boilermakers and Hoosiers renew their rivalry Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.