WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Another springboard sweep in the dive well coupled with Brady Samuels' sweep of the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke about 45 minutes apart headlined Thursday at the Purdue Invitational for the Purdue swimming & diving teams.
Sophie McAfee (1-meter) and Jordan Rzepka (3-meter) teamed up to give the Boilermakers a sweep of the springboard events for the second day in a row while in turn also completing their individual sweeps of those events at the three-day midseason showcase. Daryn Wright and Sam Bennett both claimed silver on the boards to give Purdue a pair of 1-2 finishes.
As the top seed in both events, Samuels out touched Navy's Jonah Harm by 0.02 hundredths in the 100 fly (46.17) and then came back 45 minutes later to win the 100 back (46.36) while again improving on his second-fastest time in team history. In the 100 back, which he plans to add to his event list at the Big Ten Championships in February, Samuels bested two other swimmers that had already won an individual event at the Purdue Invite this week.
Seniors Michael Juengel and Jack Smith also scored in both the 100 fly and 100 back Thursday. Juengel won the B final of the 100 back, his second B final victories in as many days.
On the women's side, Maggie Love was victorious in the B final of the 100 breaststroke. Abby Harter and Abby Marcukaitis represented Purdue in the A final of the 100 back, helping the women rack up 39 points in the event. Seniors Kendra Bowen (200 free) and Lindsay Turner (100 fly) were also A finalists Thursday.
Nick Sherman moved into third place in program history in the 100 breast (52.95) while posting the top time of the prelims. He settled for silver in the event after Big Ten silver medalist Kevin Houseman of Northwestern enjoyed a time drop of 1.59 seconds from the prelims to the A final. Coleman Modglin, Andrew Witty and Andrew Alders were also A finalists as Boilermakers made up the half the field of the championship final. Witty moved into ninth place in team history with his career best time of 53.51. All four swimmers registered NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cuts).
Sherman led off the 800 free relay with a split of 1::33.99, registering another B Cut and Purdue's top time this season in the 200 free. He came up just 0.18 hundredths shy of his program record from the leadoff leg of the event at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Sherman teamed with Connor McCarthy, Samuels and Jude Wenker in the event Thursday.
The 800 free relay ended in exciting fashion as Louisville rallied on the final leg to out touch the meet hosts by 0.48 hundredths. But a DQ on the final exchange gave the Boilermakers the victory after all. Meanwhile, Purdue's time of 6:24.66 was just 0.03 hundredths off the program record from 2021.
The Boilermakers settled for a runner-up finish in the debut of the men's team diving event at the Purdue Invitational. But it featured the most intrigue all the same after sophomore breaststroker Luke Fortner got the call to team with Rzepka and Bennett on the three-man team. With his fellow swimmers fully engaged, Fortner executed single-somersault dives from 1-meter and 5-meter in the first two rounds. Rzepka's score of 83.6 on his forward 4 ½ (109C) was a high moment of the exhibition.
The Purdue Invitational concludes Friday with swimming prelims at 10 a.m., platform diving prelims at 11 a.m. and the finals session at 4 p.m.
Sophie McAfee (1-meter) and Jordan Rzepka (3-meter) teamed up to give the Boilermakers a sweep of the springboard events for the second day in a row while in turn also completing their individual sweeps of those events at the three-day midseason showcase. Daryn Wright and Sam Bennett both claimed silver on the boards to give Purdue a pair of 1-2 finishes.
| DAY 2 TEAM SCORES | |
| MEN #13 Louisville 551.5 Purdue 539.5 Northwestern 337.5 Cal Baptist 326 Missouri State 226.5 Navy (Swimmers) 193 Southern Illinois 102 |
WOMEN #8 Louisville 655 #18 Northwestern 464.5 Purdue 357.5 FIU 316 Missouri State 203 Marshall 138.5 Cal Baptist 119.5 Illinois State 111 Southern Illinois 99 Indiana State (Divers) 0 |
As the top seed in both events, Samuels out touched Navy's Jonah Harm by 0.02 hundredths in the 100 fly (46.17) and then came back 45 minutes later to win the 100 back (46.36) while again improving on his second-fastest time in team history. In the 100 back, which he plans to add to his event list at the Big Ten Championships in February, Samuels bested two other swimmers that had already won an individual event at the Purdue Invite this week.
Seniors Michael Juengel and Jack Smith also scored in both the 100 fly and 100 back Thursday. Juengel won the B final of the 100 back, his second B final victories in as many days.
On the women's side, Maggie Love was victorious in the B final of the 100 breaststroke. Abby Harter and Abby Marcukaitis represented Purdue in the A final of the 100 back, helping the women rack up 39 points in the event. Seniors Kendra Bowen (200 free) and Lindsay Turner (100 fly) were also A finalists Thursday.
| PURDUE'S TOP PERFORMERS | |
| EVENT WINNERS Brady Samuels – 100 Back & 100 Fly Sophie McAfee – 1-Meter Jordan Rzepka – 3-Meter Men's 800 Free Relay Team (Via DQ) MORE INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS Nick Sherman – Silver in 100 Breast Daryn Wright – Silver on 1-Meter Sam Bennett – Silver on 3-Meter WON RACES IN FINALS SESSION Maggie Love – B Final of 100 Breast Michael Juengel – B Final of 100 Back Blake Ratliff – B Final of 400 IM Brinly Hardy – C Final of 100 Fly Ryan Zerpa – D Final of 100 Back Women's 200 Medley Relay C Squad Men's 200 Medley Relay B Squad Men's 800 Free Relay B Squad |
B CUTS Brady Samuels – 46.17 in 100 Fly, 46.36 in 100 Back Nick Sherman – 52.95 in 100 Breast, 1:33.99 in 200 Free Coleman Modglin – 53.30 in 100 Breast Andrew Witty – 53.51 in 100 Breast Andrew Alders – 53.47 in 100 Breast MOVED UP PURDUE ALL-TIME LISTS Brady Samuels – 2nd in 100 Back Nick Sherman – 3rd in 100 Breast Andrew Witty – 9th in 100 Breast Idris Muhammad – 10th in 100 Back Men's 800 Free Relay Team – 2nd Men's 200 Medley Relay Team – 5th SCORING FINISHES FROM FRESHMEN Daryn Wright – 2nd Overall on 1-Meter Kaitlin Simons – 9th Overall on 1-Meter Abby Marcukaitis – A Finalist in 100 Back Reagan Mattice – B Finalist in 200 Free Mya Bailey – B Finalist in 100 Back Kate Stanley – B Finalist in 100 Breast Dylan Burau – B Finalist in 100 Back |
Nick Sherman moved into third place in program history in the 100 breast (52.95) while posting the top time of the prelims. He settled for silver in the event after Big Ten silver medalist Kevin Houseman of Northwestern enjoyed a time drop of 1.59 seconds from the prelims to the A final. Coleman Modglin, Andrew Witty and Andrew Alders were also A finalists as Boilermakers made up the half the field of the championship final. Witty moved into ninth place in team history with his career best time of 53.51. All four swimmers registered NCAA provisional qualifying times (B Cuts).
Sherman led off the 800 free relay with a split of 1::33.99, registering another B Cut and Purdue's top time this season in the 200 free. He came up just 0.18 hundredths shy of his program record from the leadoff leg of the event at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Sherman teamed with Connor McCarthy, Samuels and Jude Wenker in the event Thursday.
The 800 free relay ended in exciting fashion as Louisville rallied on the final leg to out touch the meet hosts by 0.48 hundredths. But a DQ on the final exchange gave the Boilermakers the victory after all. Meanwhile, Purdue's time of 6:24.66 was just 0.03 hundredths off the program record from 2021.
The Boilermakers settled for a runner-up finish in the debut of the men's team diving event at the Purdue Invitational. But it featured the most intrigue all the same after sophomore breaststroker Luke Fortner got the call to team with Rzepka and Bennett on the three-man team. With his fellow swimmers fully engaged, Fortner executed single-somersault dives from 1-meter and 5-meter in the first two rounds. Rzepka's score of 83.6 on his forward 4 ½ (109C) was a high moment of the exhibition.
The Purdue Invitational concludes Friday with swimming prelims at 10 a.m., platform diving prelims at 11 a.m. and the finals session at 4 p.m.
| PURDUE EVENT SCORING BREAKDOWN | |
| MEN 100 Back – 65 Points 100 Breast – 63 Points 100 Fly – 42 Points 800 Free Relay – 40 Points 3-Meter Diving – 37 Points 400 IM – 36 Points 200 Medley Relay – 34 Points 200 Free – 9 Points |
WOMEN 1-Meter Diving – 46 Points 100 Back – 39 Points 800 Free Relay – 32 Points 200 Medley Relay – 28 Points 200 Free – 24 Points 100 Fly – 21 Points 100 Breast – 13.5 Points 400 IM – 10 Points |