Feb. 23, 2011
Results | Championships Central
MINNEAPOLIS -- A new school record in the 800 freestyle relay highlighted the opening night of the 2011 Big Ten Conference Championships for Purdue men's swimming and diving.
Ben Wachtel, Andrew Starr, Brian Kiel and Drew Wolfred teamed up for a time of 6:28.45, eclipsing the program benchmark from 2009 by more than a second. The Boilermakers finished sixth among a very fast field in which the top three finishing teams (Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana) all posted NCAA automatic-qualifying times. Purdue earned 26 points in the event.
The 200 medley relay was also contested on the opening night of the four-day meet. Chris Pfaff, Albert Miller, Brendan Joyce and Chuck Destro teamed up to post a new Purdue season-best time (1:28.28) and the third-fast mark in school history. The Boilermakers finished eighth among another fast field in which the top two finishers (Michigan and Ohio State) both clocked NCAA automatic-qualifying times.
"It was a good start for us," Purdue head coach Dan Ross said. "The varsity record in 800 free relay was nice and the 200 medley relay finished two places better than last year. We'll get some rest and try to get some momentum with the first individual events of the meet tomorrow. Sixth place as a team is something we can build on."
Jimmy Page and J.P. Perez won an exhibition competition of synchronized 3-meter diving that was also contested Wednesday. The duo was the top finishers among six tandems with a score of 352.26
The Big Ten Championships continue Thursday with preliminaries at noon (EST).
Team Scores Through Day One
#9 Michigan, 80
#11 Ohio State, 68
#15 Minnesota, 60
#14 Indiana, 58
Penn State, 55
#20 Purdue, 48
#25 Iowa, 46
Wisconsin, 46
Northwestern, 38
Michigan State, 37
Purdue Highlights
! - New Purdue Record
* - New Purdue Season-Best Time
(B) - NCAA Provisional-Qualifying Time
800 Free Relay Team (Wachtel, Starr, Kiel & Wolfred), 6:28.45! (B) - Finished Sixth (26 Points)
200 Medley Relay Team (Pfaff, Miller, Joyce & Destro), 1:28.28* (B) - Finished Eighth (22 Points)