Feb. 27, 2014
Thursday Results: Finals | Prelims | Dive-by-Dive Scoring
| Live Diving Scores | Championship Meet Central
Watch (PPV): Wednesday Night Thru Saturday Morning | Saturday Night Finals
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Filip Bujoczek's new program record in the 500 freestyle and a runner-up finish for Jamie Bissett in 1-meter diving highlighted the first full day of action at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue men's swimming and diving Thursday.
Led by three individual scorers in the 50 free and 1-meter diving, the Boilers (113 points) climbed from 10th to seventh in the team scoring. Purdue is now only five points behind sixth-place Wisconsin. And while 58 points separates second-place Indiana and third-place Ohio State, there's just a 41-point gap between OSU and seventh-place Purdue. Three-time defending Big Ten champion and 2014 meet host Michigan (308 points) has already begun to pull away.
"After a tough finish to Wednesday night, we began to dig ourselves out of a deep hole points wise," Purdue head coach Dan Ross said. "It was very exciting to see Jamie, Layne [Rogers] and [Danny] Tucker in the top finals and almost all of our guys moved up places tonight. We are excited for day three tomorrow."
Bujoczek eclipsed Matthew Martin's 2001 team record in the 500 free while finishing fourth in the B final Thursday evening with a time of 4:20.37. In the afternoon prelims, Bujoczek broke Purdue's freshman mark in the event for the second time this season. Martin's records in the 500, 1000 and 1650 free (all from 2001) represent the longest-standing current records on the Boilers' all-time lists.
Austin Flager broke the program's freshman record in the 50 free in the prelims of the event Thursday.
Bissett jumped up to third place in program history with a score of 381.15 in the 1-meter diving championship final. He moved up from after placing sixth in the preliminaries, improving on his list score by more than 50 points. With Layne Rogers taking fifth in the championship final and Alec Back placing second in the consolation final, the divers racked up 38 team points Thursday.
Danny Tucker took fourth in the A final of the 50 free with a Purdue season-best time of 19.53. Flager (fifth, 19.86) and Adam Johnston (eighth, 20.00) both scored in the B final of the event. They're prelim times elevated each of them into the program's all-time Top 10 leaderboard in the 50 free. Flager's mark eclipsed Matt Friede's 2011 freshman record by .12 hundredths of a second. Tucker, Flager and Johnston accounted for 20 team points Thursday.
Guillermo Blanco also scored for the Boilers on the first night of individual finals, placing third in the B final of the 200 IM. Josh Brooks and Danny Conway both moved into the program's all-time Top 10 list in the event Thursday as well. Luke Trimmer and Nate Hopkins did likewise in the 500 free.
Purdue's 400 medley relay team of Stephen Seliskar, Lyam Dias, Flager and Tucker posted the third-fastest time in program history while finishing eighth. Seliskar's leadoff split of 48.28 was good for the fifth-fastest 100 backstroke time in program history.
The Big Ten Championships continue Friday with preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.
Purdue's Top Finishers & Notables
* -- New Purdue Season-Best Time
^ -- New Personal Season-Best Time
(B) - NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z) - NCAA Zone Qualifying Score
1-Meter Diving
Jamie Bissett, 381.15* (Z) - Finished 2nd in Championship Final (17 Points); 3rd Highest Score in Program History
Layne Rogers, 355.20 (Z) - Finished 5th in Championship Final (14 Points)
Alec Back, 348.40^ (Z) - Finished 2nd in Consolation Final (7 Points)
50 Free
Danny Tucker, 19.53* (B) - Finished 4th in A Final (15 Points)
Austin Flager, 19.86^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 5th in B Final (4 Points); NEW FRESHMAN RECORD & 7th Fastest in Program History
Adam Johnston, 20.00^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in B Final (1 Point); 9th Fastest in Program History
Matt Friede, 20.02^ (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 2nd in C Final
500 Free
Filip Bujoczek, 4:20.37* (B) - Finished 4th in B Final (5 Points); NEW PROGRAM RECORD & FRESHMAN RECORD
Luke Trimmer, 4:23.72^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 4th in C Final; 4th Fastest in Program History
Nate Hopkins, 4:24.89^ (Prelim Time) - Finished 6th in C Final; 8th Fastest in Program History
Jan Karel Petric, 4:25.48^ ( Prelim Time) - Finished 8th in C Final
200 IM
Guillermo Blanco, 1:45.42 (B) - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points)
Josh Brooks, 1:47.84^ (B) - Finished 4th in C Final; 8th Fastest in Program History
Danny Conway, 1:48.86^ (B) - Finished 7th in C Final; 10th Fastest in Program History
400 Medley Relay
Seliskar, Dias, Flager & Tucker, 3:11.59* (B) - Finished 8th (22 Points); 3rd Fastest in Program History
Seliskar 100 backstroke opening split of 48.28* (5th Fastest in Program History)
Team Scores Through Thursday
1. #2 Michigan, 308
2. #6 Indiana, 216
3. #7 Ohio State, 158
4. #25 Penn State, 154
5. #11 Minnesota, 141
6. Wisconsin, 118
7. #22 Purdue 113
8. Northwestern, 79
9. Iowa, 68
10. Michigan State, 52