Feb. 25, 2000
Ann Arbor, Mich.,--The Purdue men's swimming and diving team finished day two at the Big Ten Championships in seventh-place, up one spot from Thursday. The Boilers have 170 points after 13 events and trail sixth-place Ohio State by 34 points. Host Michigan remains in the lead with 437 points.
"We did well to move ahead of Northwestern today and we are inching toward Ohio State. Hopefully we can hold our current position," said Purdue head coach Dan Ross. "We'll have our work cut out for us to move up again tomorrow, but we've got one more day to go and we'll see what happens."
Purdue finished eighth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:31.12 to open the evening session. The time was over two seconds better than the previous best for the Boilers this season (1:33.29). Junior John Wakefield led off for the Boilers with a time of 22.93, sophomore Donovan Crowley followed in 25.70, Senior Dan Kleber continued for the Boilers with a split of 22.29 and junior David Weis anchored the event with a split time of 20.20. Penn State placed first in 1:28.27.
Junior Matt Martin continued his strong showing at the championships with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley finals. The 3:54.10 personal-best performance was Martin's second Top-5 finish in as many days. Yesterday, Martin placed third in the 500-yard freestyle finals.
The Boilers had a strong showing in the 100-yard butterfly on the heels of Martin's effort. Kleber finished fifth overall while freshman Tad Sayce finished fourth in the consolation finals, good for 12th overall. Kleber, a Ft. Wayne, Ind., native, set a lifetime best earlier in the day in preliminary action with a time of 48.91 and improved again with a time of 48.82 in the finals, a Purdue varsity record. Sayce's 49.38 effort in the consolation finals was his second season-best time of the day. Purdue also had two swimmers among the Top-16 in the 100-yard backstroke. Wakefield and fellow junior Juan Rodella finished 10th and 13th in 50.03 and 50.22 respectively.
Sophomore Javier Diaz was Purdue's top finisher in the 200-yard freestyle and recorded a season-best time. Diaz placed fourth in the consolation finals, 12th overall, in 1:38.71. Freshman Gui Rego continued the Boiler trend and set two season bests of his own in the 100-yard breaststroke. He completed his run in the consolation finals in 57.07 for a 13th-place finish after a 57.25 effort in the prelims. His previous best time this season was 58.07.
Purdue capped off the day with yet another season-best effort, this time in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Diaz started things off with a 1:38.48 opening leg. After senior Kevin Cornehl and freshman Jeremy Wright swam matching legs of 1:40.50, Martin touched the wall with a split time of 1:40.38, to give the Boilers a time of 6:40.00.
In Friday's preliminary heats, several other Boilermaker swimmers set season-best times. In the 100 fly, junior Matthew Garrison touched-up in 49.68. In the 200 free, freshman William Seelbach finished in 1:42.28, while sophomore Zach Landrum and freshman Mike Miller swam the 100 breast in 57.53 and 57.62 respectively. Finally, Ian Caswell, a junior, shaved more than one second from his previous best to finish with a time of 51.29 in the 100-yard backstroke.
The 2000 Big Ten Championships come to a close after Saturday's events. Martin and sophomore Tom Drejer lead Purdue in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Diaz holds the Boiler's best time in the 100-yard freestyle, and Kleber looks to place in the 200-yard butterfly. The 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, Three-meter diving, and 400-yard freestyle relay competitions will also be held tomorrow. The prelims begin at 12 noon with the finals taking place at 7:00 p.m.