Merriman's Victory on the Tower, 6 Race Wins Highlight Final Night of Purdue InviteMerriman's Victory on the Tower, 6 Race Wins Highlight Final Night of Purdue Invite

Merriman's Victory on the Tower, 6 Race Wins Highlight Final Night of Purdue Invite

<br /><br />The divers finished off their weeklong event sweep and Nick Sherman scored his second individual victory of the meet as the Purdue swimming & diving teams closed out their three-day Purdue Invitational showcase Friday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The divers finished off their weeklong event sweep and Nick Sherman scored his second individual victory of the meet as the Purdue swimming & diving teams closed out their three-day Purdue Invitational showcase Friday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

The Purdue men overcame a 12-point deficit in the team scoring entering the day to repeat as Purdue Invite champions for the first time, finishing the meet with a 100-point advantage on second-place Louisville. The Purdue men won the meet for the sixth time overall.

The Purdue women finished third behind a pair of top-25 opponents, moving up one spot from their finish last season.
 
FINAL TEAM SCORES
MEN
Purdue 864.5
#13 Louisville 764.5
Northwestern 513.5
Cal Baptist 429
Navy (Swimmers) 315
Missouri State 307.5
Southern Illinois 189


 
WOMEN
#8 Louisville 947
#18 Northwestern 716.5
Purdue 564.5
FIU 441
Missouri State 277
Marshall 213.5
Cal Baptist 163.5
Illinois State 158
Southern Illinois 155
Indiana State (Divers) 0

Big Ten medalists Maggie Merriman and Jordan Rzepka teamed up to sweep the platform diving events, which featured both prelims and finals at the Purdue Invite for the first time this year. Rzepka's 399-point list in the final made him a winner by 68 points as he completed the diving sweep on the men's side of the meet.

Sherman paired a 200 breaststroke win Friday with his record-setting victory in the 200 IM on Wednesday, joining Brady Samuels, Sophie McAfee and Rzepka as Boilermakers to win multiple individual events this week. Sherman and Samuels also teamed with Idris Muhammad and Keelan Hart to make the men a winner in the 400 freestyle relay to cap the meet. The quartet posted the third-fastest time (2:50.87) in program history, missing an NCAA automatic qualifying time (A Cut) by only 0.35 hundredths.

Samuels won silver in the 100 free, joining Michael Juengel (200 back) and Coleman Modglin (200 breast) as medalists on the final night of the meet. Samuels finished top two in all in four of his events this week.

With Samuels and Modglin leading the way, Purdue had five of the top seven finishers in the 200 breast. Andrew Alders also won the B final with a career-best time, helping the Boilermakers racked up 79 points in the event, their most any event this week.

Led by B final victories from Kendra Bowen (100 free) and Madeline Greaves (200 fly), the Purdue women won six races in the finals session Friday. The Distance Crew – Kate Beavon, Reagan Mattice and Abby Jahns – produced three A final-equivalent finishes in the mile. Jahns came back and bested her prelim time in the C final of the 200 fly about 75 minutes after her mile.
 
PURDUE'S TOP PERFORMERS FRIDAY
EVENT WINNERS
Maggie Merriman – Platform Diving
Jordan Rzepka – Platform Diving
Nick Sherman – 200 Breast
Men's 400 Free Relay
MORE INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
Brady Samuels – Silver in 100 Free
Michael Juengel – Bronze in 200 Back
Coleman Modglin – Bronze in 200 Breast
WON RACES IN FINALS SESSION
Kendra Bowen – B Final of 100 Free
Madeline Greaves – B Final of 200 Fly
Andrew Alders – B Final of 200 Breast
Maggie Love – C Final of 200 Back
Charlie King – C Final of 200 Fly
Abby Marcukaitis – D Final of 200 Back
Leanna Wall – D Final of 200 Fly
Elissa Haake – E Final of 100 Free
B CUTS
Brady Samuels – 42.69 in 100 Free
Nick Sherman – 1:54.32 in 200 Breast
Coleman Modglin – 1:56.65 in 200 Breast
Skyler Younkin – 1:45.50 in 200 Fly
Men's 400 Free Relay – 2:50.87
MOVED UP PURDUE ALL-TIME LISTS
Men's 400 Free Relay Team – 3rd
Mahala Erlandson – 9th in 200 Breast
Andrew Alders – 12th in 200 Breast
Maggie Love – 14th in 100 Free
Dylan Burau – 14th in 200 Back
Andrew Witty – 15th in 200 Breast
SCORING FINISHES FROM FRESHMEN
Griffin Poulsen – 4th Overall in 1650 Free
Dylan Burau – A Finalist in 200 Back
Daryn Wright – 6th Overall on Platform
Reagan Mattice – 7th Overall in 1650 Free
Andy Kelly – A Finalist in 200 Back
Kelsey Cooper – B Finalist in 200 Back
Olivia Callinswood – B Finalist in 200 Breast
Brinly Hardy – B Finalist in 200 Fly
Raymond Whittaker – B Finalist in 200 Breast
Kaitlin Simons – 14th Overall on Platform
Gabe Eschbach – 15th Overall in 1650 Free
Wyatt Blair – B Finalist in 200 Fly



 

Hannah Hill (100 free), Abby Harter (200 back), Lindsay Turner (200 fly) and Cecilie Wiuff (200 fly) were also A finalists Friday for the women. Mahala Erlandson moved up into ninth place in team history with a career-best time of 2:15.68 as the team's top finisher in the 200 breast.

Dylan Burau (200 back) and Andrew Witty (200 breast) joined Alders as members of the men's team to move up the program's all-time lists in their event. Griffin Poulsen (4th in the mile), Skyler Younkin (5th in 200 fly), Andrew Swenson (5th in 200 back) and Aaron Frollo (5th in the mile) joined Burau (4th) and Witty (5th) with top-five finishes in their events Friday.

Swimming & diving's post-Thanksgiving schedule of competition is always light as the holiday season begins. Selected Boilermakers will compete at USA Swimming's U.S. Open (Nov. 30-Dec. 3 in Greensboro, N.C.), the USA Diving Winter Nationals (Dec. 11-18 in Morgantown, W. Va.) and CSCAA Open Water Nationals (Dec. 18 in Miami) over the next month. Winter training begins on campus shortly after Christmas. Purdue's next home meet is set for Saturday, Jan. 21 vs. Indiana.
 
PURDUE EVENT SCORING BREAKDOWN
MEN
200 Breast – 79 Points
200 Back – 66 Points
200 Fly – 45 Points
100 Free – 43 Points
400 Free Relay – 40 Points
1650 Free – 31 Points
Platform Diving – 20 Points
WOMEN
Platform Diving – 48 Points
200 Fly – 41 Points
1650 Free – 36 Points
400 Free Relay – 32 Points
100 Free – 24 Points
200 Back – 19 Points
200 Breast – 12 Points