Nov. 14, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 16 Purdue men's swimming and diving team continued their roll Friday night, jumping out to a 125.5-41.5 advantage over Eastern Michigan during the first day of the Purdue Challenge. The Boilermakers took eight of nine events from the Eagles.
Sam Wilcher and Luke Zehrung were solid in the 200 IM, finishing 1-2. Wilcher checked in at 1:54.75 and Zehrung was right behind at 1:55.63.
Purdue went 1-2-3 in the 500 free, with Matt Stewart taking first at 4:35.36. Drew Wolfred was second at 4:36.60, while A.J. Boeh was finished in 4:41.96 for third place.
The Boilermakers pulled the trifecta again in the 200 back. Chris Pfaff clocked in first at 1:54.77, while Tyler Gertz was second at 1:54.94 and Ben Wachtel was third at 1:57.63.
John Schmitt gave the performance of the evening, however, tearing through the water in the 100 free. His time of 44.51 was almost two seconds better than runner-up Andrew Langefeld, who came in at 46.20.
"John going 44 in the 100 free is huge. That's a big, big, big swim," head coach Dan Ross said. "I thought the divers did a really nice job tonight, as well."
They certainly did. David Boudia broke his own record in the 1-meter event, notching a 402.45. David Colturi came in second at 306.08.
"We've said that we want to get better every week. Last week, we were significantly better than the last couple of meets. I would like to see us do that in a situation where we're not necessarily getting pushed really hard," Ross said.
The Purdue Challenge wraps up tomorrow at noon when swimmers and divers hit the water at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Check purduesports.com for more updates.