Feb. 19, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's swimming and diving team ended up ninth on the final day of the Big Ten Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind. The Boilermakers finished with a total of 206 points, 9.5 ahead of Ohio State, whom Purdue had been trailing all three days. Minnesota won their second straight championship amassing 562.50 total points, Michigan was second with 501.
Heading into the final round of competition ninth the Boilermakers qualified five swimmers for the consolation heats, had swimmers place ninth and 15th in the 1,650 and took eighth in the 400 free relay Saturday night.
In the 1,650, freshman Shannon Funk collected nine points for Purdue swimming a season best 16:55.55 to place ninth. Teammate Kelly Mackus continued her impressive performance at the conference championships finishing 15th in 17:07.52 and scoring two points. Her time was a career-best, obliterating the 17:20.18 she swam last season. The sophomore scored in all three events she swam in during the course of the three day meet placing 15th in the 500 free, 12th in the 400 IM and 15th in the 1,650. Iowa's Melissa Loehandorf won the 1,650 in a time of 16:33.95.
Junior Ginger Lakos overcame an outside lane position in the 100 free to steal third in the consolation, 11th overall. Seeded tied for 15th, Lakos broke out a career-best 51.12, which tied Kim Fritsch's 1994 time for third fastest in Purdue history and gave the Boilers six valuable points.
Briana Reina picked up in the 200 breast where Lakos left off in the 100 free. Seeded 12th, the junior improved two spots in the consolation heat placing second, tenth overall. Reina's time of 2:18.98 improved her career-best time in the event by nearly a second and scored seven points for Purdue. Freshman teammate Lindsay Lange, who finished third in the 100 on Friday night, placed eighth in the consolations and 16th overall, also a career-best time.
In the final individual event of the championships, the 200 butterfly, freshman Patricia Finnerty and sophomore Karin Stender took 12th and 14th, respectively, scoring eight points for Purdue.
Final Point Total1. Minnesota 562.502. Michigan 5013. Northwestern 4594. Penn State 4355. Wisconsin 423.506. Indiana 3307. Illinois 258.508. Iowa 2329. Purdue 20610. Ohio State 196.5011. Michigan State 95