Jan. 31, 2009
The Purdue men's and women's swimming and diving teams wrapped up competition at the Big Ten Dual meets Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn., by earning one team win each at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
The 16th-ranked men's team defeated Wisconsin 222-131, but fell to host Minnesota 205-148. The Boilermakers are 6-1 in dual meets this season with one more remaining.
"We swam much better today than yesterday," men's head coach Dan Ross said. "I thought we did a lot of little things better. And, we won four out of seven (swimming) events after being shut out yesterday. Our divers did a great job both days, and it was nice for the swimmers to get into the action Saturday."
One day after sweeping the top-three finishes in both springboard diving events, the Boilermakers earned three of the top-four finishes in the platform competition. Beijing Olympian David Boudia broke teammate David Colturi's school record with 456.65 points from the 10-meter platform. Boudia, a freshman from Noblesville, Ind., now holds all three of Purdue's diving records. Colturi was the next Boilermaker to place off the platform as he finished third with his score of 361.10. Fellow sophomore Kyle Mitrione finished fourth after scoring 320.60 points.
Sophomore Matt Stewart, a Rochester, Minn., native, won the 1,000 freestyle by more than two seconds with his time of 9:22.34. Senior Andrew Langenfeld grabbed two victories for Purdue by winning the 50 freestyle in 20.18 and the 100 butterfly in 48.67. Team captain John Schmitt earned Purdue's other victory in the pool by outswimming the 200 freestyle field with his time of 1:38.92.
The men's 200 medley relay team of Tim Watts, Albert Miller, Jimmy Brooks and Daniel Jung swam to a second-place, 1:31.09 finish. The 400 freestyle relay, which consisted of Schmitt, Ben Wachtel, Langenfeld and Jung, also earned a runner-up finish after touching the wall in a team-best 3:00.31 time.
In addition to his victory, Schmitt finished fourth in the 50 freestyle with his 20.52 time. Also in that race, junior A.J. Boeh swam a season-best time of 21.97. Watts touched the wall in a season-best time of 50.45 to finish third in the 100 backstroke.
Sophomore Drew Wolfred earned two season-best times, finishing fourth in the 1,000 freestyle in 9:29.67 and eighth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:11.56. Senior Sean Davis earned a season-best clocking of 9:36.33 in the 1,000 freestyle. Senior Bill Arzner earned a fourth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke with his 2:06.94 time.
Junior Andre Koop and senior Luke Zehrung finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400 IM. Koop touched the wall in 4:04.61 and was followed by Zehrung in 4:05.79. Brooks finished sixth in the 100 butterfly with a season-best time of 50.12.
The women's team defeated Illinois 198-155, but fell to Minnesota 222-121 and Wisconsin 218.5-131.5.
"Our relays were much better today," women's head coach John Klinge said. "We had some very good efforts from a lot of our swimmers. Our divers excelled once again and have really led the way for us this season."
Freshman Casey Matthews won her second diving competition of the weekend by scoring a personal-best 250.50 points, which improves her standing in 10th on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event. Matthews, who also won the 3-meter competition Friday, won two events for the second time in the last three weeks after sweeping the springboards at Michigan State on Jan. 17. Senior Emily Wetzel finished third in the platform diving competition with her score of 217.65 one day after placing second from the 3-meter board and third in the 1-meter competition. Overall, the Boilermakers claimed eight of the nine top-three finishes in the three diving competitions.
The women's 200 medley relay team consisting of Allie Smith, Jessica Davis, Lisa Butler and Ariel Martin finished third in 1:44.89, which ranks as the quartet's fastest time this season. The 400 freestyle relay, which featured Butler, Martin, Lauren Roth and Leah Henninger, also finished third with a time of 3:28.95.
Smith finished third in the 100 backstroke after touching the wall in 56.84, and Elizabeth Holmes earned a season-best time. Martin finished fourth in the 50 freestyle with her time of 23.54 in a race that also featured a season-best time of 24.10 from Henninger, who also led the Boilermakers in the 200 freestyle with her seventh-place finish in 1:53.28.
The 400 IM featured season-best times from freshman Kristen Gilson and junior co-captain Christine Inman. Gilson finished sixth in 4:30.46, and Inman touched the wall 11th in 4:42.10. Senior Elyse Dudar was the highest-finishing Boilermaker in the 1,000 freestyle as she touched the wall in 10:18.10 and finished eighth. Sophomore Morgan Lebsack led Purdue in the 100 butterfly in a race that also featured a season-best time from Allison Frisbie.
The men's team returns to action Saturday as they host Indiana at noon ET in the final dual meet of the season. The women's team now turns its attention to the Big Ten Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 19-21 in Ann Arbor, Mich.