Feb. 27, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 18th-ranked Purdue men's swimming and diving team advanced 13 performances to finals out of Saturday afternoon's session at the Big Ten Championships inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University.
For the third straight day, all six Purdue divers are in a position to score following the preliminary round. Sophomore David Boudia, the defending NCAA and Big Ten champion in the platform, led the way from that board Saturday afternoon with his score of 499.90 points while contesting the event collegiately for the first time this season.
Junior J.P. Perez posted the second-highest score with his 402.05 total. Senior Kyle Mitrione earned the fourth qualifying spot after putting a season-best score of 390.80 on the board during his six-dive list. Junior David Colturi qualified for Saturday evening's final after scoring 385.55 points to place fifth. Classmate Danny Cox posted a season-best score of 323.25 and qualified 10th, while freshman Jimmy Page placed 14th in qualifying with his 268.50 score.
Senior Sam Wilcher turned in the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the 200-yard butterfly to guarantee points in the event for the fourth straight year. The Arlington Heights, Ill., native, who moved from fourth to second in his heat over the last 50 yards, earned a season-best time of 1 minute, 45.09 seconds that improves his standing on the list of NCAA provisional qualifiers.
Sophomore Ben Wachtel is set to score points after recording the 11th-best time in the 100 freestyle. The Carmel, Ind., native moved to fourth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event as he completed the race in a season-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 44.13.
Three Boilermakers advanced to Saturday evening's session in the 200 breaststroke. Senior Aaron Koger is set to score in his fourth straight Big Ten Championships in the event after grabbing the eighth qualifying spot with his season-best time of 1:58.35 that improves his standing on the list of NCAA provisional qualifiers.
Sophomore Wyatt Hodges earned the first scoring position of his collegiate career. The Columbia, Mo., native clocked a season-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:59.75 that ranked 11th among the afternoon competitors and knocked almost five seconds off of his previous season-best mark. Classmate Albert Miller grabbed the 19th qualifying spot when he touched the wall in a season-best time of 2:01.34.
Senior Andre Koop swam a season-best time of 1:47.01 to earn the 20th-fastest mark in the 200 backstroke. Junior Chris Pfaff turned in a season-best swim as well by touching the wall in 1:50.40 to lower his previous best clocking almost three full seconds.
Freshman Alec LaMothe qualified to swim in the evening session for the first time in his initial conference championship meet. The Indianapolis native completed the 200 butterfly in a season-best time of 1:51.13 that is more than two seconds faster than his previous season-best showing in the event.
Seniors Gage Barry and A.J. Boeh clocked season-best times in the 100 freestyle by finishing the race in 45.51 and 45.53, respectively. Freshman Chuck Destro lowered his season-best clocking in the event by more than one second when he touched the wall in 45.65. Sophomore Jimmy Brooks also knocked more than one second off of his previous season-best mark by finishing in 46.12.
Senior Nathan Taylor dropped more than two seconds from his season-best time in the 200 breaststroke as he finished the race in 2:04.88. Junior Scott Dean also earned a season-best clocking by touching the wall in 2:05.82. Sophomore Brendan Joyce completed the 200 butterfly in 1:52.83.
Saturday's evening session, which is the final period of the championships, begins at 7 p.m. ET and features finals in all of the preliminary events plus the 1,650 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay. Live results and live video from the championships can be found at purduesports.com.