Nov. 21, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 20th-ranked Purdue women's swimming and diving team completed day two of the Purdue Invitational inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on Saturday standing fourth with 370 points.
"We really had a good session this morning," head coach John Klinge said. "We were much better than we were yesterday morning. Tonight was a little inconsistent. I would still like to see our relays do a better job, but we put three in the top final of the 200 freestyle and they all did a good job. Allie (Smith) has been very, very consistent for us this year in every race."
Junior Ariel Martin moved to second on Purdue's all-time performance list and earned an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the 200-yard freestyle with her time of 1 minute, 47.84 seconds that placed second in the final. She recorded a then-season-best time of 1:48.62 while qualifying first in the morning session. Martin also finished 10th in the 100 backstroke in a season-best time of 56.95 after qualifying with a then-season-best time of 57.20.
Fellow junior Allie Smith finished second in the 100 backstroke with her 55.16 clocking after she led the qualifying field with her 55.63 time. Classmate Katie Beck also scored in 15th with her 57.80 time as she advanced from the morning session by stopping the clock in 57.80. Freshman Lauren Gustafson finished 24th with her 1:00.13 time in the final after clocking 59.43 to advance.
Sophomore Lauren Roth swam a season-best time of 1:49.57 while finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle. Her time bettered her previous season-best clocking of 1:49.58 recorded in the morning session. Junior Lisa Butler was seventh in 1:51.43 after advancing with a season-best time of her own in 1:50.46.
Purdue's 800 freestyle quartet of Martin, Butler, Caitlin Hamilton and Roth finished third with an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 7:22.82. The 200 medley relay team of Smith, Jessica Davis, Butler and Martin finished sixth with a time of 1:43.65 that ranks as the fastest by a Boilermaker quartet this season.
For the second consecutive day, Purdue earned four scoring positions in the diving event. Sophomore Casey Matthews scored a season-high 300.05 points off the 1-meter to finish second and lead the charge. Senior Ashley Karnes, who broke the Doris Z. Holloway Pool record in the 3-meter Friday night, was third with 289.65 points. Junior Erin Mertz was fifth with her 284.05 score, and classmate Kara Cook rounded out the scoring with her ninth-place, 256.05-point performance.
Juniors Mary-Margaret Lopez and Katie Beck finished 14th and 15th, respectively, in the 100 butterfly with times of 57.34 and 57.41. Lopez qualified for the final with a season-best time of 56.80, and Beck earned her spot by touching the wall in 57.02. Senior Christine Inman was 22nd in the final with her 58.03 time following a season-best 58.02 swim in the qualifying round.
Freshman Courtney Tumbush lowered her season-best time by more than 10 seconds in the preliminary round of the 400 IM when she touched the wall in 4:32.66. Sophomore Kristen Gilson was the next person in the standings after she stopped the clock in 4:32.77. Gilson finished 21st in the final with her season-best 4:31.11 time, and Tumbush was 24th in 4:37.06.
Davis scored in 13th place in the 100 breaststroke with her 1:04.84 clocking. She qualified for the evening swim with a 1:05.01 time in the qualifying round. Freshman Ellesse Lunde swam a season-best time of 1:05.03 while finishing 18th after clocking a then-season-best 1:05.67 to qualify for the final. Sophomore Christina Jacobs logged a 21st-place, 1:06.02 finish after earning a 1:05.59 time in the morning session, and freshman Emily McIlrath was next in 1:06.47.
In the morning session, Purdue earned 11 more season-best times. Freshman Katie Hingst touched the wall in 4:38.09 for her fastest 400 IM swim of the season and clocked a season-best time of 1:10.40 in the 100 breaststroke. Butler earned a new fastest time in the 100 butterfly with her 58.66 clocking, and freshman Nora Brolsma tied her season-best effort of 59.15 in the same race. Sophomores Susie Fawcett and Allison Frisbie also clocked season-best times of 1:01.73 and 1:01.83, respectively.
Gustafson qualified for the 'C' final in the 200 freestyle with her season-best time of 1:54.14 but did not compete in the evening race. Sophomore Amy Gutwein turned in a season-best time of 1:55.74 in the 200 freestyle, and Brolsma clocked a new fastest time with her 1:56.41 finish. Also in that race, senior Elizabeth Holmes and freshman Ellie Roeing swam season-best times of 1:59.51 and 1:59.66, respectively.
Also in the first session of the day, Lunde recorded a time of 4:36.07 in her first attempt at the 400 IM this season. Classmate Lauren Nichols swam her first collegiate 100 butterfly and turned in a 58.33 time in the same race that McIlrath finished in 59.77.
Sophomore Sara Bogert, Holmes and Roeing each swam the 100 butterfly for the first time this season during the morning session. Bogert led the trio with her 1:01.68 time, while Holmes was next in 1:01.71 and Roeing touched in 1:01.96.
Hamilton recorded a time of 1:55.09 in the 200 freestyle one day after breaking Purdue's freshman record in the 500 freestyle. Also in the 200 freestyle, Nichols touched the wall in 1:58.91, Lopez logged a 2:01.13 time and freshman Katie Guell finished in 2:01.49. Freshman Megan Roach and Fawcett finished the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.24 and 1:08.96, respectively.
Michigan leads the team scoring with 523.5 points. Louisville stands second with 507.5, and Arkansas is third with 397. Trailing Purdue is Ohio State's 311-point total in fifth and Missouri State's 127 points in sixth.
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.