Jan. 29, 2010
The 18th-ranked Purdue men's swimming and diving team won three events Friday evening in Madison, Wis., during day one of the Big Ten Duals.
"We had a good first day," head coach Dan Ross said. "This meet is very competitive and should have a great second day. We won some close races and lost some close ones. We have to be prepared for every race to be close and have a strategy to win. It's all mental at this point in the season."
Senior Aaron Koger gave Purdue its first victory when he touched the wall in 56.17 seconds to defeat the 100-yard breaststroke field. Sophomore Albert Miller added fifth-place points by completing the race in 57.99. Junior Matt Stewart provided another Boilermakers' win when he outraced the 200 backstroke field with a 1:52.02 clocking. Senior Andre Koop followed in a close second with his 1:52.10 time. Sophomore Tyler Gertz gave Purdue three of the top-five places when he finished in 1:53.00.
The Boilermakers added one more win in the diving well as senior Kyle Mitrione topped the 1-meter field. The Haddonfield, N.J., native scored a season-high total of 338.20 points to win the event and was followed by junior David Colturi, who finished second with his score of 330.95. Fellow junior Danny Cox finished fourth with a season-best score of 318.00. Cox led Purdue with his second-place finish after scoring 329.70 points off the 3-meter and was followed by Colturi's third-place total of 327.75.
Chuck Destro, Ben Wachtel, Brendan Joyce and Kyle House began the evening by recording a season-best time of 1:22.82 while finishing second in the 200 freestyle relay. Destro, Koger, Sam Wilcher and Wachtel wrapped up the session with another runner-up showing when the quartet completed the 400 medley relay in 3:22.52.
Junior Drew Wolfred swam to a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle with his 4:29.89 time, and freshman Vinny Donnelly finished sixth with a season-best time of 4:32.97. Stewart led Purdue in the 200 IM with a season-best clocking of 1:53.99 while finishing sixth, and Koop tied for seventh in that race by touching the wall in 1:54.54.
Wachtel just missed a season-best time in the 100 freestyle when he finished second with his 45.62 time, and senior Gage Barry scored in 10th place with his 47.02 clocking. Wilcher led Purdue with his fourth-place, 1:49.68 finish in the 200 butterfly. That race also featured season-best times of 1:53.51 and 1:54.37 from Donnelly and fellow freshman Alec LaMothe, who placed eighth and 10th, respectively, and a season-best clocking of 1:57.52 from sophomore Jimmy Brooks.
Purdue leads host Wisconsin 107-67, while No. 10 Minnesota holds a 100-74 lead over the Boilermakers. The Big Ten Duals conclude Saturday with action beginning from the Natatorium on the University of Wisconsin's campus at 1 p.m. ET.