January 16, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished off a tough weekend of competing with victories over the Michigan State Spartans in a co-ed meet in East Lansing, Mich on Saturday, Jan. 16 behind some stellar performances from a variety of individuals.
The men defeated the Spartans 164-79 to even their Big Ten record at 1-1 on the season. "We had a really good weekend," Purdue coach Dan Ross said. "We are starting to come together as a team."
Purdue's 200 medley relay team of sophomore Juan Rodela, senior Vilmos Kovacs and freshmen Jon Duncan and Donovan Crowley captured first place and set a pool record with the time of 1:32.44. The team of sophomores Ian Caswell and Matt Garrison and seniors Kirk Larsen and Mark Kujawski place second in the same event with the time of 1:36.37.
In the 100 backstroke, Rodela continued his hot streak as the sophomore set a pool record with the time of 80.50. Rodela's teammate Caswell took third place finishing in 82.47.
Purdue would go on and take first, second, and third place in both the 1000 and 50 freestyle. Martin touched for first place with the time of 9:23.24 as his teammates freshman Tommy Drejer and senior Ryan Morrissey finished in second and third, with the times of 9:34.79 and 9:34.89, respectively.
In the 50 freestyle, Larson snatched a first-place finish with the time of 21:19. Duncan finished in second with the time of 21:32 and Kujawski took third place by finishing in 21:64.
Purdue was also successful in capturing the top two spots in three different events. In the 200 individual medley, Kovacs and freshman Chris Bonser took first and second with the times of 1:51.16 and 1:58.82. Crowley and Garrison also placed in the top two positions in the 100 butterfly. The Austin, Texas native, Crowley finished with the time of 51.03, while Garrison finished with the time of 51.03. The final event that the Boilers dominated was the 500 freestyle. Martin finished first with the time of 4:33.87 and Drejer finished second in 4:37.29.
Freshmen Javier Diaz had an impressive meet finishing first in both the 100 and 200 freestyle with the times of 45.92 and 1:40.12.
Purdue's Kovacs took first place in the 100 breastroke with a time of 56.69. Crowley placed third finishing in 59.42.
Diaz, junior Kevin Cornehl, Larsen and Kujawski finished first in the 400 free relay with the time of 3:04.35. In third place were Rodela, Martin, Caswell and Bonser with the time of 3:12.93.
The Purdue women's swimming team rebounded after a loss to the University of Michigan on Fri. with a hard-fought 141-102 victory over Michigan State to push their Big Ten record to 2-1 on the season. In the dual meet, the Boilermakers would record nine first-place finishes out of 13 events.
"Overall, I was very pleased with this weekend," Purdue women's coach Cathy Wright-Eger said. "Our goal was to make a statement for our rise in the Big Ten. I think we did that."
Senior Ericka Whyte provided a spark for the Boilers was she swam to victories in the 50 (23.84) and 100 fly (52.27) and swam the third leg of the 400 medley relay. The relay team set a Michigan State pool record, breaking their top time this year by three-and -a-half seconds.
"It was really great making such a strong statement against another Big Ten school," Purdue senior Ericka Whyte said.
Freshman Leslie Lorenz took honors in the 500 (5:06.68) and 1000 free (10:21.67) and a second place in the 200 free (1:57.40).
Karin Stender won the 400 IM (4:32.16) and 200 butterfly (2:07.86). Her time in the IM was a new pool record at MSU. Sophomore Ginger Lakos also notched two first-place finishes, touching the wall first in the 200 free and swam the last leg of the 400 medley relay.
Sophomore Brienna Reina finished off the Boilers first-place domination winning the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.84.
Making up the last two people of the victorious medley relay team were seniors Kathy Barker and Tracy Storrier.
In the diving competition, sophomore Kara Hajek placed second on the one-meter diving competition with 247.60 points and third on the three-meter board with 254.25.
The Boilermaker women will have a week to relax, before Indiana comes to West Lafayette on Fri., Jan. 22 for a dual meet starting at 6 p.m. The men will not compete until next Saturday, Jan. 23 when they, along with the women will hold their senior day against the Northwestern Wildcats at Lambert Pool with the women starting at 1 p.m. and the men at 4 p.m.
By
Lyn Olson