Nov. 21, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 16th-ranked Purdue men's swimming and diving team is in third place with 537 points after the second day of the Purdue Invitational wrapped up Saturday inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
"I was very, very impressed with these guys in the morning," head coach Dan Ross said. "The seniors took everybody off to the side to regroup everybody, and I thought we were much better this morning. Tonight, we didn't swim great, but we swam well. The last relay, even though we got third, I thought was a really, really good effort for our guys. It's a fast swim for us at this time of year. Of course, the divers did just unbelievable. David Boudia won, but for David Colturi to dive that well is a big bonus for us. We have our best day tomorrow. This has felt like the Big Ten Championships and has been a truly fun meet."
The Boilermakers took half of the scoring positions in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior A.J. Boeh led the charge with his fourth-place, 1:40.69 finish. He was followed by junior Drew Wolfred's sixth-place time of 1:40.97, sophomore Ben Wachtel's seventh-place, 1:41.68 clocking and freshman Andrew Starr's 1:42.55 swim that placed eighth. Wachtel, Boeh and Starr each earned season-best times in the morning session as Wachtel touched the wall in 1:40.38, Boeh clocked in at 1:40.24 and Starr finished in 1:41.37.
Freshman Alec LaMothe qualified in a season-best 1:41.92, and then finished 10th in 1:42.21. Senior Gage Barry, who earned his spot in the final with a 1:42.76 swim, was the next finisher with his 1:42.39 time. Junior Mark Boman claimed 15th place in 1:44.74 after a season-best 1:43.74 swim in the morning session and was followed by senior Sam Wilcher in 1:47.59. Senior Travis Smith was 23rd in 1:45.64 after earning his way into the evening session with a season-best 1:44.99 clocking during qualifying.
All six Purdue divers scored in the top-seven places in the 3-meter competition. Sophomore David Boudia won his second competition in as many days by scoring 469.80 points. He was followed by junior David Colturi in second with a season-best score of 411.25. Classmate J.P. Perez finished fourth with his 370.70 score and was followed by fellow junior Danny Cox in fifth with his score of 365.45 that improved his standing in eighth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event. Freshman Jimmy Page was next with his 347.10-point total, and senior Kyle Mitrione wrapped the scoring with 346.30 points.
Purdue swam to five scoring places in the 100 butterfly. Senior Sam Wilcher finished second with a season-best time of 49.31 after completing the morning swim in 49.38. Sophomore Brendan Joyce finished fourth with a season-best time of 49.59 after recording a then-season-best time of 49.63 in qualifying. Classmate Jimmy Brooks finished eighth in 51.57 after recording a season-best time of 49.55 in the preliminary round. Sophomore Kyle House finished 13th in 51.02 after stopping the clock in 51.39 in the morning session, while junior Chris Pfaff finished 15th with his season-best 51.15 time after qualifying in 51.50.
Three more Boilermakers swam in the `C' final of the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Zach Johnson was 18th with his season-best 51.58 time after touching the wall in 52.06 to qualify. Junior Ryan Dafforn qualified with a 52.05 time in his first attempt at that race this season and was 19th in the final with his 52.21 time. Freshman Corey Bandura stopped the clock in a season-best time of 52.12 to qualify and then placed 22nd in the final with a 52.74 clocking.
Senior Aaron Koger led the team in the 100 breaststroke. The Richmond, Ind., native finished third in 55.34 after qualifying first in 55.54. Sophomore Albert Miller finished eighth in 57.07 after clocking a season-best time of 56.33 in the morning swim. Senior Nathan Taylor was 11th in the final with his season-best time of 57.26, and junior Scott Dean was 15th in a season-best 58.67. Taylor and Dean turned in then-season-best times of 58.33 and 58.73, respectively, during the qualifying round.
Sophomore Wyatt Hodges placed 18th in the 100 breaststroke with his season-best time of 58.07 and was followed by junior Ryan Dafforn's 21st-place, 1:00.62 showing. Freshman Dan Farrell finished 24th in 1:04.80 after touching the wall in 1:04.19 during the morning swim in his first attempt at that race this season.
Junior Matt Stewart won the `B' final in the 400 IM with his season-best 4:01.61 time after missing the `A' final by six-hundredths of a second with his 4:02.41 time from the morning session. Senior Andre Koop turned in a 10th-place, 4:03.73 finish after qualifying in 4:03.85, and freshman Vinny Donnelly finished 16th in 4:11.29 following a season-best 4:09.29 swim in the qualifying round. Freshman Ray Mahon finished 20th in 4:12.05 after recording a season-best time of 4:11.87 in the morning session. Hodges qualified for the `C' final with his season-best time of 4:13.87, but did not swim the race in the evening session.
Junior Chris Pfaff led the team in the 100 backstroke by finishing 11th with a season-best time of 51.30. Freshman Chuck Destro swam a season-best time of 51.40 in the morning session before finishing 13th in 51.70. Junior Mark Boman logged a season-best 52.14 while qualifying for the final, where he clocked a 52.36 time and finished 18th. Sophomore Kyle House finished 19th in 52.49, while senior Andre Koop was 21st in 52.82 following a 52.74 qualifying swim. Sophomore Tyler Gertz turned in a season-best time of 52.44 to qualify for the final, where he finished 22nd in 52.85.
Purdue's 800 freestyle quartet of Wachtel, Boeh, Starr and Wolfred swam an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 6:41.91 while finishing third in the event. The 200 medley relay team of Destro, Miller, Brooks and Wachtel finished fifth in 1:31.73.
The Boilermakers added five more season-best swims in the first session of the day. Freshman Noah Pashley stopped the clock in 1:46.44 for his fastest 200 freestyle of the season, and classmate Sebastian Aube turned in a 1:51.36 performance. Freshman Dan Farrell swam to a season-best time of 54.07 in the 100 butterfly. Fellow freshman Sam Niesen stopped the clock in a season-best 53.91, and sophomore Zach Johnson added a season-best time of 54.43 in the 100 backstroke.
Sophomore Logan Wetzel stopped the clock in 1:46.93 in his first 200 freestyle of the season, and Niesen recorded a 1:47.53 time in the same race. Pashley ended his first collegiate 100 backstroke in 54.26, and sophomore Jimmy Brooks finished his first 100 backstroke of the season in 55.55.
Louisville holds the lead in the team scoring with 616.5 points and is followed by Ohio State's 609-point total. Following the Boilermakers is Missouri State in fourth with 216.5 points.
The Purdue Invitational concludes Sunday. Action begins at 10 a.m. ET from inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, and finals begin at 4 p.m. Admission is free, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.