WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Event victories by Olympians Nikola Aćin and Tyler Downs coupled with a thrilling meet-ending win in the men's 400 freestyle relay highlighted the final day of action for the Purdue swimming & diving teams at the Purdue Invitational.
The No. 22 Purdue men won eight events over the three days of action, besting No. 10 Louisville and the rest of the field with 902.5 points. It marked the fourth time the Boilermakers have won the men's half of the Purdue Invitational. However, it was their first victory at the meet since 2015.
Maycey Vieta and Downs teamed up to sweep the platform diving events. Vieta and Maggie Merriman finished 1-2 in the women's event. The Boilermakers won five of the six diving events on the weekend. Downs ripped consecutive dives for scores of 88-plus on his way to a list score of 476.5 in his NCAA debut on the tower, moving into fourth place in program history.
Aćin completed his sweep of the freestyle sprints with a victory in the 100 Saturday. His event-best split of 42.12 on the third leg of the 400 free relay gave the Boilermakers the lead and classmate Nick Sherman closed out the victory with a heroic anchor leg.
Brady Samuels capped his breakout meet with another Purdue freshman record and also was a big part of the Boilermakers' victory in the 400 free relay with a split of 42.33 on the second leg. In the 100 free, Samuels took second to Aćin for the second time, his fourth top-two finish in an individual event at the meet. Samuels initially eclipsed Acin's 100 free freshman record (43.09) in the prelims at 43.02 and then became just the fourth Boilermaker to go sub-43 seconds at 42.93 in the A final. Samuels also set freshman benchmarks in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke this weekend.
Abby Harter moved up to seventh place in program history with a career-best time of 1:58.02 in the A final of the 200 backstroke. Kate Beavon took fourth overall in the mile as Purdue's top female finisher of the night in the swimming events.
Coleman Modglin claimed silver in the 200 breaststroke, moving into sixth place in program history with a time of 1:55.04 in the event. Brett Riley also registered a career best (1:58.72) as an A finalist in the event, moving into 13th place in program history. Riley now ranks among the Purdue all-time leaderboards in five individual events – 200 and 400 IM, 100 and 200 back, 200 breast.
The Purdue men racked up 79 points in the 100 free, accounting for five of the top nine finishers and seven of the top 15. Just as they did in the 100 fly Friday, the Boilermakers won the A, B and C finals of the 100 free. Keelan Hart's victorious time (43.53) in the B final moved the junior into 10th place in program history.
After a winter training camp during the semester break on campus, Purdue is slated to resume its competition schedule Saturday, Jan. 20 with a co-ed dual at Indiana. In the meantime, the Purdue divers are slated to compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals the week of Dec. 13 to 18 in Bloomington, Indiana.
The No. 22 Purdue men won eight events over the three days of action, besting No. 10 Louisville and the rest of the field with 902.5 points. It marked the fourth time the Boilermakers have won the men's half of the Purdue Invitational. However, it was their first victory at the meet since 2015.
| FINAL TEAM SCORES | |
| MEN #22 Purdue 902.5 #10 Louisville 768 Northwestern 709 Missouri State 368 Navy (Swimmers) 358 McKendree 309.5 |
WOMEN #23 Northwestern 907.5 #11 Louisville 786.5 FIU 610 Purdue 500 Missouri State 375 Illinois State 192 McKendree 143 Indiana State (Divers) 1 |
Maycey Vieta and Downs teamed up to sweep the platform diving events. Vieta and Maggie Merriman finished 1-2 in the women's event. The Boilermakers won five of the six diving events on the weekend. Downs ripped consecutive dives for scores of 88-plus on his way to a list score of 476.5 in his NCAA debut on the tower, moving into fourth place in program history.
Aćin completed his sweep of the freestyle sprints with a victory in the 100 Saturday. His event-best split of 42.12 on the third leg of the 400 free relay gave the Boilermakers the lead and classmate Nick Sherman closed out the victory with a heroic anchor leg.
Brady Samuels capped his breakout meet with another Purdue freshman record and also was a big part of the Boilermakers' victory in the 400 free relay with a split of 42.33 on the second leg. In the 100 free, Samuels took second to Aćin for the second time, his fourth top-two finish in an individual event at the meet. Samuels initially eclipsed Acin's 100 free freshman record (43.09) in the prelims at 43.02 and then became just the fourth Boilermaker to go sub-43 seconds at 42.93 in the A final. Samuels also set freshman benchmarks in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke this weekend.
Abby Harter moved up to seventh place in program history with a career-best time of 1:58.02 in the A final of the 200 backstroke. Kate Beavon took fourth overall in the mile as Purdue's top female finisher of the night in the swimming events.
Coleman Modglin claimed silver in the 200 breaststroke, moving into sixth place in program history with a time of 1:55.04 in the event. Brett Riley also registered a career best (1:58.72) as an A finalist in the event, moving into 13th place in program history. Riley now ranks among the Purdue all-time leaderboards in five individual events – 200 and 400 IM, 100 and 200 back, 200 breast.
The Purdue men racked up 79 points in the 100 free, accounting for five of the top nine finishers and seven of the top 15. Just as they did in the 100 fly Friday, the Boilermakers won the A, B and C finals of the 100 free. Keelan Hart's victorious time (43.53) in the B final moved the junior into 10th place in program history.
After a winter training camp during the semester break on campus, Purdue is slated to resume its competition schedule Saturday, Jan. 20 with a co-ed dual at Indiana. In the meantime, the Purdue divers are slated to compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals the week of Dec. 13 to 18 in Bloomington, Indiana.
| PURDUE'S TOP PERFORMERS | |
| EVENT WINNERS Tyler Downs – Platform Diving Maycey Vieta – Platform Diving Nikola Aćin – 100 Free Men's 400 Free Relay Team MORE INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS Maggie Merriman – Silver in Platform Diving Brady Samuels – Silver in 100 Free Coleman Modglin – Silver in 200 Breast Jordan Rzepka – Bronze in Platform Diving WON RACES IN FINALS SESSION Keelan Hart – B Final of 100 Free Ryan Hrosik – C Final of 100 Free Lance Lesage – C Final of 100 Back Andrew Alders – C Final of 200 Breast Men's 400 Free Relay (B) |
MOVED UP PURDUE ALL-TIME LISTS Men's 400 Free Relay – 2nd Tyler Downs – 4th in Platform Diving Brady Samuels – 4th in 100 Free Coleman Modglin – 6th in 200 Breast Abby Harter – 7th in 200 Back Keelan Hart – T-10th in 100 Free Skyler Younkin – 10th in 200 Fly Brett Riley – 13th in 200 Breast B CUTS Nikola Aćin – 42.57 in 100 Free Brady Samuels – 42.93 in 100 Free Keelan Hart – 43.53 in 100 Free Nick Sherman – 43.72 in 100 Free Coleman Modglin – 1:55.54 in 200 Breast Skyler Younkin – 1:46.56 in 200 Fly Men's 400 Free Relay – 2:51.18 |
| PURDUE EVENT SCORING BREAKDOWN | |
| MEN 100 Free – 79 Points Platform Diving – 64 Points 400 Free Relay – 40 Points 200 Breast – 36.5 Points 200 Fly – 28 Points 1650 Free – 18 Points 200 Back – 18 Points |
WOMEN Platform Diving – 37 Points 400 Free Relay – 28 Points 200 Fly – 27 Points 1650 Free – 26 Points 200 Back – 21 Points 200 Breast – 19 Points 100 Free – 2 Points |