January 23, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Behind seven individual victories and two relay wins, the Purdue men's swimming and diving team was able to pull out a 140-101 victory over Northwestern on Saturday Jan. 23 at Lambert Pool. With the help of four multiple event winners and a 1-2 finish in three events, Purdue improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 against Big Ten Conference foes. The Wildcats dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Purdue's valiant efforts were led by three-time Big Ten champion senior Vilmos Kovacs and fellow senior Kirk Larsen, who each won two events. Kovacs, an honorable mention all-american last year, was victorious in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.09) and swam the second leg of the winning 400 medley relay (3:21.76). The Tatabanya, Hungary native, also placed second in the 200 free (1:41.06). Larsen won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.65 and swam the anchor leg of the winning 400 free relay team (3:06.33). In the 200 free, both Larsen and Kovacs defeated the Northwestern's defending Big Ten champion Steve Steketee, who finished third.
"I think the 200 free by far was the highlight of the meet," Purdue coach Dan Ross said. "For Kirk and Willy to go out there and take first and second was a real turning point in the meet for us."
In the one-meter diving competition voluntary, freshman Kevin Young finished first with 169.50 points.
"Kevin did a great job on the one-meter board today," Purdue diving coach Jim Mountjoy said. "He really seemed to dive with a lot of consistency, as did senior Dan Schunk."
The Purdue 400 medley relay team of freshman Juan Rodela, Kovacs, sophomore Matthew Garrison and junior Kevin Cornehl raced away from the competition winning in a time of 3:21.76. Swimming the 100 yard backstroke portion of the relay, Northwestern's Brian Walters set a Lambert pool record with a time of 49.54, eclipsing the old mark set by Bill Weaver of Ohio State (51.04).
In the 1000 freestyle, freshman Tom Drejer breezed to victory in a season-best time of 9:23.80. Senior Ryan Morrissey placed second in 9:39.47.
Larsen used a late push in the last 50 yards to win the 200 freestyle in a season-best time of 1:40.65. Kovacs placed second with a season-best time of 1:41.
Purdue senior Mark Kujawski sprinted to victory in the 50 freestyle touching the wall first in 21.49, while freshman Jon Duncan placed second in 21.61.
In the 200 IM, freshman Javier Diaz placed first in 1:52.58.
Northwestern's Jason Merchant claimed the Wildcats first victory of the evening in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:54.52, while Purdue's Garrison placed second in 1:55.23.
In the 100 freestyle, Northwestern's Steve Steketee placed first in 46.59. Finishing second was Purdue's Duncan in 46.74.
Walters from Northwestern picked up where he left off in the 100 backstroke of the 400 medley relay with a pool record in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:47.50 The old record of 1:48.17 was set by Greg Ruminski of Indiana.
Purdue regained its winning form taking the last three evetns, including the 500 freestyle with sophomore Matt Martin placing first in 4:33.02. Kovacs breezed to victory in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:03:09. The Purdue 400 free relay team Duncan, Diaz, Cornehl and Larsen cruised to victory in a time of 3:06.33.
"We survived the toughest part of our schedule," Ross said. "We can now start to rest a little and begin to prepare for Big Ten's."
The Boilers will return to action this weekend when they travel to IUPUI to battle Wisconsin and Minnesota starting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29 and noon on Jan. 30.