Nov. 14, 2009
The Purdue men's swimming and diving team defeated Eastern Michigan 223-100 in a two-day dual that concluded Saturday at Jones Natatorium in Ypsilanti, Mich.
"Our divers dove well," head coach Dan Ross said. "The swimming was a little rough, but we were better than the first day in some spots. We expected much better performances next week at the invitational."
One day after claiming nine of 10 event victories, the Boilermakers added five more to the haul. Sophomore Ben Wachtel won his third individual freestyle event of the weekend by outpacing the 100-yard freestyle field in 45.78 seconds, and classmate Brendan Joyce led a sweep of the top-four places in the 100 butterfly with his 50.60 time.
Junior Matt Stewart won the 500 freestyle in 4:34.22 as Purdue took first, second and third in that event, and classmate David Colturi led a sweep of the top-three finishes in the 3-meter with his season-best score of 365.93 points.
Freshman Jimmy Page moved to ninth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the 3-meter. His career-high score of 348.23 was good for second place behind Colturi. Following Page in third was senior Kyle Mitrione and his score of 326.18.
Sophomore Jimmy Brooks was second in the 100 butterfly with his 51.09 clocking and was followed by senior Sam Wilcher and sophomore Zach Johnson in 52.36 and 52.46, respectively. Freshman Alec LaMothe finished second in the 500 freestyle with a season-best time of 4:37.06 and was followed by classmate Vinny Donnelly in 4:39.56.
Senior Andre Koop finished second to lead the Boilermakers in the 400 IM after touching the wall in a season-best time of 4:02.93. Freshman Corey Bandura was second in the 100 freestyle with his season-best time of 46.79, and classmate Noah Pashley recorded a season-best time of 47.65 while finishing fourth.
Sophomore Tyler Gertz was the highest-finishing Boilermaker in the 200 backstroke with his runner-up, 1:53.31 finish in his first attempt at that event this season. Junior Scott Dean and sophomore Albert Miller finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 IM with times of 2:07.36 and 2:08.05.
Purdue wrapped the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay as Brooks, Donnelly, Joyce and Wachtel combined to stop the clock in 3:08.01. The 200 freestyle relay team of Chuck Destro, Brooks, Mark Boman and Miller finished second after completing the race in 1:25.98.
The Boilermakers remained unbeaten in dual meets this season. Purdue returns to competition next week by hosting the Purdue Invitational. Action begins Friday and continues through Sunday from the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.