February 6, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The odds were stacked against the 23rd-ranked Purdue men's swimming team on Saturday afternoon when they swam against their intrastate rivals from Indiana. They were behind 32-6 when the meet started. Two weekends ago, the diving portion of the meet took place and Indiana swept the top three spots in both the one and three-meter diving events. The men's team made a valiant effort, but in the end Indiana prevailed 129-114 on Purdue Senior Day. With the win, Indiana improves to 9-3 overall (3-1 Big Ten), while Purdue drops to 5-3 overall (3-3 Big Ten.)
Seniors Gerald Koh, Vilmos Kovacs, Mark Kujawski, Kirk Larsen, Ryan Morrissey and Dan Schunk made their final appearance in Lambert Pool for the Boilermakers.
"These six guys have been the backbone of our team," Purdue coach Dan Ross said. "They come out to practice every day and lead by example. All six are very business-like. It is hard to see them go out that way. They finished 2-2 in their careers against Indiana."
With the meet on the line and Purdue trailing by six, 116-110, going into the last event, the Boilers needed a victory and a third-place finish in the 400 free relay to overcome the deficit, but in the end it was the IU team that prevailed. The Hoosier team of Tom Wanezek, Brian Stryker, Jason Carlsberg and Don Gold won in a time of 3:02.48. Purdue's team of Diaz, Duncan, Kujawski and Larsen got edged out to finish second in 3:02.90.
"In the end, I thought we just ran out of guys," Ross said. "We didn't lose this meet because of lack of effort. This was a great college meet and I think it was great for the sport of college swimming."
In the first event of the meet, the Indiana team of junior Ken Ackerman, senior Tom Davis, senior Tom Wanezek and sophomore Dan Gold out sprinted the Purdue team to win the 400 medley relay in a Lambert Pool record of 3:20.46. Purdue's team of sophomore Juan Rodela, Kovacs, sophomore Matt Garrison and freshman Jon Duncan took second in 3:20.87.
Purdue got on the winning track in the 1000 freestyle, as sophomore Matt Martin cruised to a victory by 10 yards in a time of 9:22.47. In the 500 freestyle, Martin separated himself from the rest of the field early and was also not pushed, as the Mission Viejo, Calif. native, touched first in 4:32.80. Freshman Tom Drejer placed third in both events with times of 9:33.26 and 4:38.25.
Freshman Javier Diaz led from the start in the 200 freestyle to win in a season-best and Lambert Pool best time of 1:39.89. Junior Kevin Cornehl out stretched the Hoosiers freshman Heath Montgomery for second place in a time of 1:42.41.
Larsen took honors in the 100 freestyle in a season-best time of 46.23 and second in the 50 freestyle in 21.36, while Kujawski finished third in 21.41.
Kovacs continued his assault on the Big Ten, as the Tatabanya, Hungary native, put it in cruise control en route to a 200 IM victory in 1:51.38. Koh placed third in 1:54.77. In the 200 breaststroke, the three-time defending Big Ten Champion and current 1998-99 top performer in the 200 breast, swam to victory in time of 1:59.82.
In a dramatic finish, Koh came from behind in the last 15 yards to win the 200 butterfly in 1:52.13. Jason Carlberg of Indiana placed second in 1:52.46.
Rodela placed second in the 200 backstroke in 1:51.31, while sophomore Ian Caswell finished fourth in 1:54.52. IU's Ackermann separated himself from the competition and set a new Lambert Pool record with a time of 1:47.27.
The Boilers are now off until the Big Ten Championships, which will be held Feb. 25-27 at the Counsilman and Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind.
"Right now, we need to rest, regroup and prepare ourselves for Big Ten's," Ross said. "All that goes on now is very important for us, but the season starts at the conoference meet."