Jan. 6, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - Following in the footsteps of Louis Paul and Jin-Soo Kim, Chris Etherington looks to be Purdue's next great second-half addition.
Etherington, a freshman from Kokomo, Ind., had a sensational debut against Arizona State Friday, guiding the Boilermakers to wins in the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays. He also led a five-place sweep in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 46.35.
Finishing second to Etherington in the 100 free was another mid-year newcomer Eddie Kenney, who is a transfer from LSU. Kenney's second-place mark was timed at 46.47.
Kenney also swam the second leg of the 200 free relay, which completed its course in 1:23.82.
The freestyle point sweep helped give Purdue an 88-60 lead coming out of the first day of competition; however, the club will ultimately surrender 32 diving points since that half of the team is competing at the Georgia Invitational.
With the diving points factored into the score, ASU leads 92-88.
Head coach Dan Ross considers the diving score a non issue and is happy with the way everyone competed.
"We had a really good meet," said Ross. "We won the relays and both Chris and Eddie made an immediate impact. Their (Arizona State) best events are tomorrow, so we're going to have to swim even better than we did today."
Purdue also collected wins from reliable veterans Giordan Pogioli and Romain Maire. Pogioli won the 100 breast in 54.95 and was runner-up in the 200 individual medley at 1:51.16.
Maire was victorious in the 200 back, touching the wall first in 1:50.37.
Pogioli and Maire also played a major role in the Boilermakers first-second place showing in the 400 medley relay. Pogioli teamed with Etherington, Joe Colley and Trey Smith to win the meet-ending race in 3:20.31. Maire headed up the second-place relay of Kim, Jon Ranochak and John Schmitt, which recorded a mark of 3:22.38.
The Boilermakers and Sun Devils complete their two-day dual Saturday, starting at noon.