Feb. 18, 2011
Results | Purdue Highlights & Team Scores | Dive-by-Dive Scoring
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Purdue women's swimming and diving broke three more school records on day three of the Big Ten Conference Championships, running the total to eight with one more day of competition remaining.
The first new program record in diving was established Friday. Erin Mertz scored 388.35 points in the finals of the 3-meter springboard, breaking Ashley Karnes' 2009 benchmark by five points. Mertz finished sixth and Kara Cook ninth to earn the Boilermakers 22 team points on the 3-meter board.
Allie Smith bettered her school record in the 100 back twice on Friday. She took third in the A final with a mark of 52.81. Earlier in the day, she finished the preliminaries in 52.93. She was less than a second behind the Big Ten champion, Margaret Meyer of Wisconsin, in an event that saw the top two finishers both posted NCAA automatic-qualifying times.
Purdue also broke a fourth relay record at the 2011 Championships, establishing a new-program best time (3:38.13) in the 400 medley relay. Smith, Emily Fogle, Lauren Roth and Lauren Gustafson teamed up on the record-setting relay. The time was a good for an NCAA provisional qualifier, which the Boilers had yet to achieve in the 400 medley relay this season.
The 400 medley relay was the only relay event in which Purdue did not establish a new record in 2009-10. The Boilermakers could go a perfect five-for-five in setting new program relay records with a similar showing in the 400 free Saturday.
Gustafson has swum on three of the four new record-setting relays, while Smith, Fogle and Roth have each been a part of two this week.
Ariel Martin and Fogle also qualified for A finals individually. Martin finished fourth in the 200 free and Fogle was fifth in the 100 breast. Fogle's preliminary time (1:00.54) was only 12 hundredths of a second shy of Lindsey Lange's program record that has stood since 2003. Martin broke the program record in the 200 free Wednesday on the leadoff leg of the 800 free relay.
Lisa Butler won the B final of the 200 free with a personal season-best time. Jessica Davis (100 breast) and Roth (200 free) also earned points for Purdue by qualifying for the B final of their events.
Indiana extended its lead through day three to 136 points. Less than 50 points separates fourth-place Penn State and seventh-place Wisconsin. Purdue is in fifth, a half of a point ahead of Michigan. The Big Ten Championships conclude Saturday.
Team Scores Through Day Three
#14 Indiana, 531
#13 Minnesota, 395
#19 Ohio State, 302
Penn State, 275
#20 Purdue, 255.5
#16 Michigan, 255
#17 Wisconsin, 226.5
Iowa, 133
Northwestern, 131
Michigan State, 74
Illinois, 68
Purdue Highlights
! - New School Record
* - New Purdue Season Best Time
+ - New Personal Season Best Time
400 Medley Relay Team (Smith, Fogle, Roth & Gustafson), 3:38.13! (B) - Finished Sixth (26 Points)
100 Fly
Mary-Margaret Lopez, 55.17* (prelim time) -- Finished Second in C Final
200 Free
Ariel Martin, 1:45.74 (B) - Finished Fourth in A Final (15 Team Points)
Lisa Butler, 1:47.07+ (B) - Won B Final (9 Team Points)
Lauren Roth, 1:47.13+ (B) (prelim time) - Finished Sixth in B Final (3 Team Points)
100 Breast
Emily Fogle, 1:00.54* (B) (prelim time) - Finished Fifth in A Final (14 Team Points)
Jessica Davis, 1:01.60+ (B) (prelim time) - Finished Fifth in B Final (4 Team Points)
Emily McIlrath, 1:02.28+ (B) (prelim time) - Finished Second in C Final
Ellesse Lunde, 1:02.95+ (B) (prelim time) - Finished Fifth in C Final
100 Back
Allie Smith, 52.81! (B) - Finished Third in A Final (16 Team Points)
3-Meter Diving
Erin Mertz, 388.35! - Finished Sixth (13 Team Points)
Kara Cook, 352.75+ -- Finished Ninth (9 Team Points)
New Purdue Records at 2011 Big Ten Championships
200 Free (Ariel Martin - Wednesday)
500 Free (Caitlin Hamilton - Thursday)
100 Back (Allie Smith - Friday)
3-Meter Diving (Erin Mertz - Friday)
200 Free Relay (Martin, Butler, Nichols, Gustafson - Thursday)
800 Free Relay (Martin, Roth, Butler, Gustafson - Wednesday)
200 Medley Relay (Smith, Fogle, Butler, Martin - Wednesday)
400 Medley Relay (Smith, Fogle, Roth, Gustafson - Friday)