Nov. 3, 2012
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sprint freestyle specialists Carly Mercer and Danny Tucker once again led the way as the Purdue swimming and diving teams swept a double dual meet at Northwestern Saturday afternoon to complete a busy travel weekend.The No. 24 Purdue women won 12 of the 16 events on their way to a 187-113 edge in the team scores. The No. 18 Purdue men touched first in 10 of the 16 events to win the day, 172-126.
Both teams also competed Friday evening at Notre Dame. The women swept the Notre Dame-Northwestern weekend for the fourth straight year.
"This is always a tough trip with two quality meets within 24 hours," women's head coach John Klinge said. "Our swimmers and divers really competed hard all weekend."
After winning three individual events Friday at UND, Mercer captured the 100 and 200 freestyle and finished second in the 50 free on this day. She also swam the leadoff leg on the victorious 200 free relay team.
Tucker remained perfect in the freestyle sprints this season, sweeping the 50 and 100 free yet again. He also anchored both of the Boilers' victorious relay teams.
Lyam Dias (100 and 200 breaststroke) and Jamie Bissett (1- and 3-meter diving) were also two-time individual winners for the Purdue men. Dias posted Purdue season-best times in the breaststroke events and swam the breaststroke leg on the victorious 400 medley relay team. The sophomore was also the runner-up in the 200 IM as well.
Among the women, Allie Davis, Emily Fogle, Nika Petric and Rhiannon Sheets each won an event and finished as the runner-up in another. Davis and Petric finished one-two in 500 free, Davis winning with a Purdue season-best time. Petric won the 1000 free and Fogle took the 100 breast. Sheets captured the 200 butterfly and finished second to teammate Alex Todd in the 100 fly.
Alec LaMothe also won a race and posted a runner-up finish for the Purdue men. He out touched NU's Jordan Wilimovsky by three one-hundredths of a second in the 500 free and finished second in the 200 free. Brian Kiel won the 100 backstroke and also swam the backstroke leg on the victorious 400 medley relay team.
Francesca Marr cruised to a victory in the 200 breaststroke and was selected as the recipient of the Purdue women's Boilermaker Award after the meet. Colleen Drew (200 back) and Fogle (200 IM) posted season-best times for Purdue while finishing second in their events. Fogle and Sheets also contributed to a relay winner. Lauren Gustafson swam the anchor leg on both victorious relay foursomes, closing out the 200 free relay with a team-best split of 23.19 that allowed the Boilers to win by two tenths of a second.
Chuck Destro finished second by a small margin in a pair of events (100 back and 100 fly). He also swam on both relay winners for the men. MacKenzie Tweardy and Maddie Miskulin teamed up for a sweep of the diving events for the women.
The Boilermakers will be idle from competition next weekend as both teams gear up for the three-day, six-session Purdue Invitational the weekend of Nov. 16-18 at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. However, the second annual Breaststroke 4 Hope swim-a-thon fundraiser will be held at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center next Saturday. A number of student-athletes from both teams are expected to participate.
Team Scores
#18 Purdue Men 172, Northwestern 126
#24 Purdue Women 187, Northwestern 113
Purdue Winners & Notables
* -- Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
Men
50 Free
Danny Tucker, 20.44
100 Free
Danny Tucker, 45.26
200 Free
Alec LaMothe, 1:41.97 (Finished 2nd)
500 Free
Alec LaMothe, 4:35.97 (Out touched NU's Wilimovsky by .03 of a second)
100 Back
Chuck Destro, 50.10 (Finished 2nd by .25 of a second)
200 Back
Brian Kiel, 1:48.74
100 Breast
Lyam Dias, 58.13*
200 Breast
Lyam Dias, 2:04.80*
100 Fly
Chuck Destro, 49.57* (Finished 2nd by .16 of a second)
200 Fly
Danny Conway, 1:51.14 (Finished 2nd)
200 IM
Lyam Dias, 1:53.83 (Finished 2nd)
200 Free Relay
Ziolkowski, Friede, Destro & Tucker, 1:20.50*
400 Medley Relay
Kiel, Dias, Destro & Tucker, 3:21.95
1-Meter Diving
Jamie Bissett, 347.03 (Purdue had top 4 finishers: Bissett, Cox, Back & Mokhtari)
3-Meter Diving
Jamie Bissett, 364.57 (Purdue had top 3 finishers: Bissett, Back & Cox)
Women
50 Free
Carly Mercer, 23.65 (Finished 2nd)
100 Free
Carly Mercer, 50.30
200 Free
Carly Mercer, 1:50.56 (Purdue had top 3 finishers: Mercer, Davis & Sheets)
500 Free
Allie Davis, 4:58.95* (Davis & Petric finished 1-2)
1000 Free
Nika Petric, 10:10.22
100 Back
Amy Katz, 57.44 (Finished 2nd)
200 Back
Colleen Drew, 2:03.90* (Finished 2nd by .25 of a second)
100 Breast
Emily Fogle, 1:03.04
200 Breast
Francesca Marr, 2:18.49
100 Fly
Alex Todd, 56.21 (Todd & Sheets finished 1-2)
200 Fly
Rhiannon Sheets, 2:03.83
200 IM
Emily Fogle, 2:05.63* (Finished 2nd by .28 of a second)
200 Free Relay
Mercer, Nichols, Sheets & Gustafson, 1:34.23* (Gustafson best split of 23.19 to close out win by .20 of a second)
200 Medley Relay
Katz, Fogle, Vogel & Gustafson, 1:44.33
1-Meter Diving
MacKenzie Tweardy, 289.05 (Tweardy & Mary Beth Dunnichay finished 1-2)
3-Meter Diving
Maddie Miskulin, 291.30