Jan. 8, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The 19th-ranked Purdue men's swimming and diving team extended its lead over Michigan State on Friday during the second day of their dual inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
"We looked like there was jello in the pool instead of water today, but we still had some really good swims," head coach Dan Ross said. "It looked like they were trying to remember where to put their hands when they are swimming. To actually be able to perform at a decent level and have decent swims, I was very pleased. I would like to see us finish off tomorrow a little bit faster. We trained full tilt this morning at 6 a.m., and tomorrow we aren't going to do that. I would give us a good, solid 'B' for our performance tonight, and we will see what we do tomorrow."
The closest finish of the evening came in the first race on the schedule. Kyle House, A.J. Boeh, Dan Farrell and Chris Pfaff completed the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1 minute, 26.03 seconds to finish second by three-hundredths of a second. Corey Bandura, Noah Pashley, Zach Johnson and Sebastian Aube contributed third-place points with a 1:28.87 time. The Boilermakers added two scoring performances in the evening's other relay, as well. Pfaff, Aaron Koger, Sam Wilcher and Ben Wachtel won the 400 medley relay in 3:21.63, while Chuck Destro, Albert Miller, Jimmy Brooks and Gage Barry finished third in 3:27.63.
Purdue continued its dominance as the meet moved into the individual races. The Boilermakers, led by junior Matt Stewart's 15:42.87 clocking, swept the top five places in the 1,650 freestyle. Fellow junior Drew Wolfred was second in 15:51.10 and was followed by freshman Vinny Donnelly's 15:52.41 time. Classmate Alec LaMothe finished fourth with a season-best time of 16:00.75, and senior Travis Smith was fifth in 16:05.02.
Koger dominated the 100 breaststroke field as he won by more than one full second. The Richmond, Ind., native touched the wall in a season-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 55.13. Miller finished third in 57.61, and fellow sophomore Wyatt Hodges touched the wall in a season-best time of 58.50 for fourth.
Wilcher led three Purdue scorers in the 200 butterfly by winning the event in 1:50.08. Sophomore Brendan Joyce was third with his 1:56.42 time, and classmate Brooks touched the wall in 1:59.48 to finish fourth. Wachtel swam to his fifth victory in the 100 freestyle this season by finishing in 45.87. Boeh also landed in the scoring with his fifth-place swim of 47.46.
Pfaff was the highest-finishing Boilermaker in the 100 backstroke. The junior from Elkart, Ind., finished second in 51.57 and was followed immediately by sophomore Tyler Gertz, who clocked a season-best time of 51.60. Destro also added points to the team score with his fourth-place, 51.76 finish. Senior Andre Koop was the highest-finishing Purdue swimmer in the 200 IM. The Newton, Kan., native recorded a season-best time of 1:54.72 to place second and was followed by Stewart's third-place, 1:54.97 time and Miller's fourth-place, 1:57.05 clocking.
Purdue leads the team race 121-61. The dual concludes Saturday with action beginning at noon ET. Purdue's eight seniors will be recognized in a short ceremony before competition begins. Admission is free, and live results can be found at purduesports.com.