Purdue Invitational, Day Three

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, November 22. SERAPHINA Van broke the Purdue freshman record in the 200-yard breaststroke Sunday as the women's swimming and diving team wrapped up the Purdue Invitational inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

"Overall, we had a really solid meet with a lot of great swims," head coach John Klinge said. "Today went pretty well. I thought we started off really well this morning. The 200 back was good, and the 100 free was very good. Certainly, Seraphina had a good swim setting our freshman record. The 200 fly was solid, and we had some good swims in the mile. We still struggle a bit with our relays. We need to get better with our consistency throughout an entire championship meet and really emphasize the relays."

Van won the ‘B' final in the 200 breaststroke by touching the wall in 2 minutes, 16.16 seconds. The Cypress, Texas, native bettered the previous record of 2:17.07 set by Jennifer Lavers in 2005. Van's time also moves her to third on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event and is an NCAA provisional-qualifying time.

"I didn't know I had broken the freshman record, but that's pretty amazing," Van said. "I felt really good about swimming a best time, and hearing that I broke the freshman record really makes me feel good about my race. I am very, very excited."

One day after becoming the second-fastest 200 freestyle swimmer in program history, junior Ariel Martin moved to third on Purdue's all-time performance list in the 100 freestyle. The Jeffersonville, Ind., native stopped the clock in 49.98 in the morning session to earn the third qualifying position and eclipse the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard. Martin then finished third in the final with her 50.07 clocking.

Freshman Caitlin Hamilton moved to third on Purdue's all-time performance list in the 1,650 freestyle in her first collegiate attempt at that distance. The Normal, Ill., native, who already holds Purdue freshman records in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle races, touched the wall in 16:34.13 to finish second in the race and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Junior Erin Mertz won the first platform diving competition contested by the Boilermakers this season. Mertz scored 265.80 points to better the field of 10 and move to eighth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event. Classmate Kara Cook finished third with her score of 238.55.

Junior Lisa Butler and sophomore Lauren Roth also scored in the 100 freestyle. Butler won the ‘B' final with a season-best time of 50.89 after qualifying in 51.63, while Roth was 12th in 51.75 after she recorded a time of 51.77 in her first attempt at that race this season in the morning session. Freshman Lauren Gustafson won the ‘C' final with a season-best time of 51.93 and was followed immediately by classmate Lauren Nichols, who qualified in 52.31 and stopped the clock at 52.54 in the final.

Junior Allie Smith led the way in the 200 backstroke. She qualified second with a then-season-best time of 2:00.53 before lowering that with a fourth-place, 1:59.52 swim in the final. Sophomore Kristen Gilson advanced to the final with a season-best 2:01.54 clocking, and freshman Ellie Roeing grabbed a season-best time of her own when she qualified in 2:10.92. Gilson finished eighth in 2:02.13, and Roeing was 22nd with her 2:10.78 clocking in the evening session.

Freshman Ellesse Lunde finished 13th in the 200 breaststroke with her 2:21.42 clocking after she registered a season-best time of 2:20.62 to reserve her spot in the final. Classmate Megan Roach finished 23rd in 2:24.93 after touching the wall in 2:24.50 to qualify, and sophomore Christina Jacobs was next in 2:26.53 after she swam a season-best time of 2:23.59 in the morning session.

Freshmen Katie Guell and Courtney Tumbush scored in 13th and 14th, respectively, in the 1,650 freestyle with times of 17:19.46 and 17:20.78. Sophomore Amy Gutwein rounded out Purdue's scoring in the event with her 15th-place, 17:23.60 finish.

Senior Christine Inman recorded a time of 2:04.89 to place 15th in the 200 butterfly final. The co-captain from Williamsport, Ind., advanced to the final with her 2:04.98 swim in the morning. Junior Mary-Margaret Lopez finished 18th with her 2:08.72 time after she stopped the clock in 2:08.49 to qualify for the final.

Purdue's 400 freestyle relay team of Martin, Butler, Smith and Roth wrapped up the meet with a third-place finish after the quartet touched the wall in 3:25.24.

The Boilermakers added five more season-best times in the morning session. Senior Elizabeth Holmes swam her fastest 100 backstroke time of the season by touching the wall in 2:12.78. Sophomore Sara Bogert added a 53.08 clocking for her fastest 100 freestyle of the season, and junior Jessica Davis turned in a season-best 54.96 time in the same race. Sophomore Susie Fawcett turned in her best 200 breaststroke time of the season by stopping the clock in 2:28.27, as did freshman Katie Hingst with her 2:29.37 time.

Also in the morning session, junior Katie Beck finished the 100 freestyle in 53.70. Sophomore Allison Frisbie and freshman Nora Brolsma clocked times of 54.71 and 54.78, respectively, in their first times contesting that race this season.

Arkansas senior Yi Ting Siow broke the Doris Z. Holloway Pool record while winning the 200 breaststroke. Siow, who finished 19th in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, touched the wall in 2:09.01 to better the previous record of 2:09.77 set by Stanford's Caroline Bruce in 2005. Siow is the second athlete to better a facility record this weekend, following Purdue senior Ashley Karnes' 3-meter record score of 370.20 recorded Friday.

Michigan won the team crown with 774.5 points. The Wolverines were followed by Louisville's 739.5 points and Arkansas' total of 680. Purdue finished fourth after putting 535 points on the board throughout the three-day competition. Ohio State was fifth with 446 points, and Missouri State placed sixth with its 134-point total.

The Boilermaker swimmers have completed their fall competitions, but the divers are set to travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Ohio State Invitational from Dec. 4-6. The entire team gets back together after the calendar switches to 2010 when Purdue hosts Eastern Michigan in a dual from Jan. 7-9.

Meanwhile, the 16th-ranked Purdue men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the Purdue Invitational on Sunday with a third-place finish after scoring 792.5 points during the three-day meet held inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

"We had a good weekend," head coach Dan Ross said. "But, the guys have to learn that when they are tired and they're not suited and the cosmic tumbler is not in the right place, you have to find a way to get it done. I think we have now realized that, and I think this was a really good lesson for us to figure out what we're going to need to do to compete at the Big Ten level. Our goal is to get a little bit better so we are ready for the Big Ten meet. You would always like to be a little bit better, but you have to save some bumps for the end of the season."

The Boilermakers qualified all eight swimmers in the 200-yard backstroke for the evening session. Senior Andre Koop led the way with his seventh-place finish in 1:52.02 after qualifying with a season-best time of 1:51.78. Junior Mark Boman finished 11th with his second season-best time of the day. He finished the final in 1:52.60 after qualifying with a then-season-best time of 1:53.04. Freshman Andrew Starr finished 13th in 1:53.02 after he stopped the clock in 1:54.42 to grab his qualifying spot, and sophomore Tyler Gertz was next to finish with his 1:54.24 time after qualifying in 1:54.78.

Junior Matt Stewart won the ‘C' final in 1:52.10 after qualifying in 1:56.02 in his first 200 backstroke of the season. Classmate Chris Pfaff turned in a season-best time of 1:53.24 while finishing 18th in the final following his 1:56.30 clocking in the morning session. Sophomore Zach Johnson and freshman Sam Niesen also qualified for the ‘C' final after touching the wall in 1:58.76 and 2:01.93, respectively, in their first attempts at that race this season but neither swam in the evening session.

All four Boilermaker divers finished in the top five of the platform competition. Junior J.P. Perez moved to third on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event with his score of 430.55 that placed second. Classmate David Colturi grabbed third with his score of 399.50. He was followed by freshman Jimmy Page, who scored 341.50 points to move to ninth on the all-time performance list, and senior Kyle Mitrione, who totaled 292.70 points.

Seven Boilermakers qualified for the evening session in the 200 butterfly. Senior Sam Wilcher won the ‘B' final in a season-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:47.57. He was followed by sophomore Brendan Joyce in 13th with his 1:54.39 time after finishing his first 200 butterfly of the season in 1:54.29 in the morning session. Junior Ryan Dafforn scored in 15th place with his 1:55.11 swim following a 1:54.66 time in qualifying. Freshman Alec LaMothe swam a season-best time of 1:54.46 to qualify for the final, where he finished 16th after touching the wall in 1:55.13.

Sophomore Zach Johnson claimed the 200 butterfly ‘C' final with his 1:55.89 clocking. Freshmen Vinny Donnelly and Ray Mahon were 18th and 23rd, respectively, in the final with times of 1:56.29 and 2:00.46. Mahon completed the preliminary swim in 1:58.85 to nail down his spot in the evening race.

The Boilermakers also grabbed seven scoring spots in the longest race on the docket, the 1,650 freestyle. Junior Drew Wolfred led the way with his fourth-place, 15:49.23 swim and was followed by Donnelly in fifth with a 15:52.28 clocking. Stewart touched the wall in 15:55.72 for seventh, and Starr scored in eighth after stopping the clock in 15:56.34.

LaMothe was the next Purdue finisher as he touched the wall in 16:14.64 for 12th place. He was followed by senior Travis Smith's 16:25.75 time that placed 13th and Mahon's 15th-place, 16:33.63 finish. Sophomore Logan Wetzel and freshman Sebastian Aube just missed out on the scoring as they placed 17th and 19th, respectively, in 16:43.42 and 17:30.69.

Sophomore Ben Wachtel finished sixth in the 100 freestyle with his 45.79 time in the final. He qualified for the ‘A' final with a season-best 45.54 swim in the morning session. Senior A.J. Boeh also logged a season-best time in the qualifying swim as he touched the wall in 46.43 and then finished 11th with his 46.65 time in the final. Senior Gage Barry tied for 12th after stopping the clock in 46.75, and freshman Corey Bandura scored in 15th with his 47.55 time following a 47.01 swim in qualifying.

Four more Purdue swimmers qualified for the ‘C' final of the 100 freestyle. Freshman Noah Pashley led the group with his 19th-place finish in 47.27 after swimming a season-best time of 47.26 in the morning session. Classmate Chuck Destro was next in 47.64 following a 47.06 qualifying effort and was followed immediately by Joyce, who finished in 47.72 after touching the wall in a season-best time of 47.07 in the morning session. Fellow sophomore Kyle House was 24th with his 48.50 time that followed a 47.85 effort in the preliminary round.

Senior Aaron Koger finished third in the final of the 200 breaststroke with his season-best 2:01.03 time after qualifying in 2:03.05. Sophomore Albert Miller won the ‘B' final in 2:05.54 after he touched the wall in 2:06.55 to qualify for the final in his first attempt at that race this season. Junior Scott Dean finished 11th in 2:06.70 after qualifying with his 2:07.08 time. Senior Nathan Taylor swam a season-best time of 2:07.73 following a then-season-best 2:08.26 swim in the morning session to advance to the final. Sophomore Wyatt Hodges finished 22nd in 2:13.46 after recording a 2:11.16 time in the morning swim.

Purdue's 400 freestyle relay team of Wachtel, Boeh, Barry and Wolfred wrapped up the meet with a fifth-place, 3:05.11 time. The quartet recorded the fastest time of any Boilermaker relay in that event this season.

Purdue added one more season-best time in the morning session. Freshman Benjamin Ziolkowski touched the wall in 48.01 for his fastest 100 freestyle of the season. Also in the morning session, sophomore Jimmy Brooks completed the 100 freestyle in 48.07 and freshman Dan Farrell finished in 50.25.

Louisville won the team title with 938.5 points. Ohio State scored 932.5 points and Missouri State put 320.5 points on the board to sandwich around Purdue.

The Boilermaker swimmers have completed their fall competitions, but the divers are set to travel to the Ohio State Invitational which runs Dec. 4-6. The entire team gets back together after the calendar switches to 2010 when Purdue hosts Eastern Michigan in a dual from Jan. 7-9.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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