Nov. 19, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's swimming and diving team (5-0, 3-0) edged out Indiana 154-146 in dual meet action Friday evening. The Boilers came from behind in Bloomington to steal the win in the final event of the night, the 200 free relay. The meet sew-sawed back and forth with each team vying to take control before the other would come back to make it close.
"The whole meet was neck and neck," coach Cathy Wright-Eger said. "Every time we thought we had control of the meet Indiana would come back in the next event and get right back into it."
The Boilers started the meet with a victory in the 200-medley relay. Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Patricia Finnerty and Ginger Lakos combined to equal their season best time in the event, swimming a 1:47.46. The Hoosiers then took victories in the 1650 and 200 free, but Purdue bounced back to take the top three spots in the 100 backstroke. Dolansky won the event in a time of 58.87. She was followed by teammates Missy Bromley and Jen Alden.
"The backstrokers did a great job of keeping us in the meet," Wright-Eger said. "Just when it seemed that Indiana was getting control they came through with a huge sweep. It really gave our team a boost."
The momentum remained in the Boilermakers favor for the 100 breaststroke. Lange won the event in a season best time of 1:06.02. Ronica Rogalski and Brianna Reina followed close behind, finishing second and fourth, respectively, also in season best times of 1:06.56 and 1:06.63. Karin Stender kept the victories rolling for Purdue with her top performance of the season in the 200 butterfly (2:07.06).
Indiana's Jennifer Christy, the top seeded swimmer in the nation in the 50 free, won the event and the 100 free to bring the Hoosier back into contention. Purdue's Nikki Lively and Ginger Lakos finished second in the 50 and 100 free, respectively. Indiana took the 200 backstroke when Amanda Noblet touched first, edging out Purdue's Rogalski and Sarah Dougall, who finished second and third.
Purdue kept pace when Reina and Rogalski touched one-two in the 200 breast, but Indiana's Erin Rice won the 500 free to keep the meet close. Purdue appeared to pull away late when Finnerty, Katie Mullarkey and Stender swept the top three places in the 100 butterfly. However, the Hoosiers would not quit, as Kristy Martin won the 400 IM. That victory combined with Indiana taking the top two spots in one-meter and the top three in three-meter diving gave the Hoosiers a slight one-point lead heading into the final 200 free relay.
Lively, Bromely, Dolansky and Lakos swam a 1:36.51 to Indiana's 1:37.02 to come from behind and grab the victory for the Old Gold and Black.
"Before the free relay began we knew we were in a pretty big hole," Wright-Eger said. "The relay team just wasn't going to let this one get away from us though. Both teams swam so well, we're really relieved to have this win. We had some really nice swims tonight, but we also found some things we need to work on in the upcoming weeks."
The Boilermakers will head to San Antonio, Texas to participate in the U.S. Open Dec. 2-5.