Jan. 14, 2011
DALLAS - Purdue men's swimming and diving finds itself in fifth place after the opening night of competition of the Classic at SMU, a six-team meet that features some of the nation's top-ranked programs.
Albert Miller's second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke highlighted the night for the Boilermakers. Miller improved on his season-best time for Purdue by more than a second. Brian Kiel (400 IM, 3:56.63), Brendan Joyce (100 fly, 49.22) and the 400 medley relay team (3:18.57) also posted new top times for Purdue this year.
Matt Friede, meanwhile, won the consolation heat of the 50 free. SMU's Perkins Natatorium features a six-lane pool and each event is limited to two heats of six swimmers. Each of the six schools competing this weekend is permitted to enter only eight swimmers and one diver.
"It's a great field with some great racing down here," Purdue head coach Dan Ross said. "Our guys raced really hard. They had some best in-season times of all time and a couple of lifetime bests. All in all, it was a good first day. SMU and us seem to be locked into a battle so tomorrow should be fun."
The Classic at SMU concludes Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. (EST). Nine members of the program are currently in Dallas competing in the prestigious event. The remainder of the Purdue travel squad will take on Michigan State Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of a double dual meet the Boilermaker women.
Team Scores Through Friday
#13 Michigan, 164
#7 USC, 148
#9 North Carolina, 144
#5 Florida, 138
#21 Purdue, 123
#26 SMU, 120
Friday night events (*new season-best time for Purdue)
400 Medley Relay Team (Destro, Miller, Joyce & Friede) - 5th place, 3:18.57*
400 IM
Brian Kiel - 4th in consolation, 3:56.63*
Matt Stewart - 4th in championship, 3:59.95
200 Free
Ben Wachtel - 5th in championship, 1:39.17
Andrew Starr - 3rd in consolation, 1:39.31
50 Free
Matt Friede - 1st in consolation, 20.82
Chuck Desto - 6th in championship, 21.02
1-Meter Diving
J.P. Perez - 4th place, 312.97
100 Fly
Brendan Joyce - 5th in championship, 49.22*
Ben Wachtel - 6th in consolation, 51.14
100 Back
Brian Kiel - 2nd in consolation, 50.29
Chuck Destro - 4th in championship, 50.49
100 Breast
Albert Miller - 2nd in championship, 55.64*
Brendan Joyce - fifth in consolation, 58.22
800 Free Relay Team (Starr, Kiel, Stewart & Wachtel) - 6th place, 644:62