Feb. 24, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Following Friday's impressive prelim session, Purdue coach Dan Ross was starting to believe his team could finish fourth, maybe even third at Big Tens. Then the unimaginable occurred.
On the night's opening relay, the 200 medley, the Boilermakers were disqualified for a false start.
"It's an inexcusable mistake - but woulda, shoulda, coulda - we're not going to sit here and complain about it," said Ross. "Our guys responded well after the DQ, which was encouraging to see."
The DQ dropped Purdue from fifth to sixth with 240 points. Ohio State is only 10.5 points ahead, so Ross is confident his team can catch the Buckeyes on the final day of competition. Catching Northwestern (299 points) for fourth will be a more difficult task.
Host Indiana leads Minnesota for first 497.5 to 407 and Michigan is a distant third with 348 points.
Purdue diving played a significant role in the comeback, scoring the fourth, sixth and seventh place points. LoBue led his teammates, raising his varsity record to 377.05 points. Karshen was sixth with 348.15 points and rookie Zach Schultz was seventh with 338.45 points.
In the pool, Romain Maire shaved four seconds off his prelim time to place ninth in the 400 individual medley at 3:51.24. Maire's time is the third fastest in program history.
The Frenchman also registered a personal best on the first leg of the 800 freestyle relay, recording a 200 free split of 1:38.68. Maire's relay, which consisted of Craig Thompson, Giordan Pogioli and John Schmitt, finished seventh in 6:37.70.
In individual competition, Schmitt held onto his prelim finish of 12th in the 200 free, with his mark of 1:38.15. Pogioli won the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke with his time of 53.66.
Purdue scored zero points in the 100 fly last year. This year it scored 20 on the efforts of freshman Chris Etherington, who placed fourth in 47.76, and sophomore Jon Ranochak, who was 12th in 48.42.
Joe Colley recorded a personal best in the 100 back of 49.88, but dropped two places in the consolation finals to finish 11th.
The Big Ten Championships continues Saturday at Noon with the prelims of the 200 backstroke. Live results for swimming and diving can be found through iuhoosiers.com.