Nov. 21, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 15 Purdue men's swimming and diving team split up Friday night, with half the squad competing at the Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, Texas, and the other half hosting the University of Indianapolis at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The Boilermakers defeated Indianapolis, 152-104.
"I am just ecstatic. We did a really, really good job tonight," head coach Dan Ross said. "They had to compete and find a way to win, and they did that."
Purdue won 12 of 14 events, including six 1-2 finishes. Kyle House was among those that stood out, taking the 50 free in 21.14 and swimming the night's fastest time in the 100 fly at 50.07.
Wyatt Hodges and Mark Boman also stepped up for the Boilermakers. Hodges finished third in the 200 free at 1:46.61 and was quickest in the 200 breast at 2:04.87. Boman took first in the 200 back (1:56.15), third in the 100 back (53.68) and fourth in the 1000 free (9:50.34).
Travis Smith and Logan Wetzel were two of Purdue's other winners. Smith was victorious in the 1000 free with a time of 9:28.74 and Wetzel took the 500 free in 4:41.22.
"I've been texting back and forth with J. and it's been firing those guys up down there," Ross said. "Then when I tell these guys what those guys did this morning, these guys are getting fired up. That's what's great about this team. I couldn't be happier with how everything worked out."
Down in Texas, the No. 15 Boilermakers stand in third place through the first day of competition. With 200 points, they are 250 behind No. 2 Stanford and 69 back of No. 16 LSU.
David Boudia took the 1-meter diving event for the third consecutive meet, this time with a score of 359.65. Kyle Mitrione finished sixth after tallying a 299.75 in the finals.
Purdue also performed very well in the relays. The team of Tim Watts, Aaron Koger, Andrew Langenfeld and John Schmitt reigned in a third place finish after swimming to a 3:17.12. Langenfeld, Schmitt, Ben Wachtel and Dan Jung swam a 1:21.72 to take sixth in the 200 free relay.
Langenfeld stood out individually, as well, giving the Boilermakers 13 points with a sixth place finish in the 50 free. His time of 20.15 was only .13 off a NCAA provisional qualifying time.
No. 15 Purdue competes during the second day of the Art Adamson Invitational tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Live results will be provided on purduesports.com.