Oct. 20, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue swimming and diving teams looked impressive today at their inaugural meet in the new Boilermaker Aquatic Center and the Doris Z. Holloway Pool. The Boilermaker men tallied 706 points and the women earned 759.5 in the Indiana Intercollegiate invitational meet. Butler, Ball State, IUPUI, the University of Indianapolis, Valparaiso, and Vincennes took part in the invitational as Purdue's guests.
"Today the women's performance was a great reflection on our new facility," said Purdue women's head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "We are just so appreciative to have the opportunity to swim in a facility that is this nice and we relish the opportunity to show our fans and supporters that we are worthy of a pool of this caliber. There is no comparison - this was, by far, the fastest October meet we've ever swum."
Aside from opening the new Aquatic Center and hosting the first meet of the year, the Boilermakers' day was also highlighted by the appearance of Mr. Bob Holloway, who was a substantial donor for the building of the facility. The competition pool was named in honor of his wife, Doris, who is also a long-time Purdue supporter.
"It was really great to be able to have Bob here today and it was really nice to finally have that first meet in this great facility," said Purdue men's head coach Dan Ross. "It was also pleasantly surprising to see so many fans and supporters here today for us."
The points spread between the Boilermakers and their opponents were quite substantial, as the Purdue women were followed by Ball State with 504.50 points, Indianapolis with 271 points, Valparaiso with 124 points, IUPUI with 88 points, Butler with 83 points, and Vincennes with 42 points.
The Purdue women started their day off strong with three relays finishing first, third and fifth in the 200 medley relay. Juniors Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Patricia Finnerty and Kim Paradeise earned the first-place spot, while freshman Brandy Keever, senior Ronica Rogalski, sophomore Jennifer Bean and senior Katie Mullarkey took the third-place spot. Freshman Brenda Banning, sophomores Lindsay Kirchoff, Stacie Kleber and freshman Jill Collins finished fifth.
In the 200 freestyle, the Boilermakers finished 1-2-3 with freshman Christine Leupold, senior Kelly Mackus and Mullarkey. Freshman Jill Collins added a 10th-place finish.
In the 50 freestyle freshman Tracy Duchac finished first, while Lange and freshman Katie Seleskie finished third and fourth. Keever added a 12th-place finish, freshman Lydia DeNuccio finished 15th and sophomore Meryl Tierney was 21st.
The Boilermakers took charge of the 200 individual medley with Bean in first place, Leupold in third, Finnerty in fourth, sophomore Autumn Sample in fifth, senior Karin Stender in seventh, Kirchoff in eighth, Mackus in ninth, junior Karina Bolanos in 10th and Banning in 11th-place.
The Old Gold and Black finished 1-2-3-4 and 6-7-8 in the 100 butterfly with, respectively, Finnerty, Stender, Sample, Bean, Kleber, Mullarkey, and DeNuccio.
In the 100 freestyle, Leupold added her second first-place finish of the day, while Seleskie, Duchac and Rogalski were not far behind in third, fourth and fifth. Collins fell in at 15th and Tierney added a 20th-place finish.
Dolansky, Keever and junior Shannon Funk earned another Purdue 1-2-3 finish in the 100 backstroke, while Sample, Banning and DeNuccio finished sixth, seventh and 10th.
Paradeise and Mackus finished 1-2 in the 500 freestyle and Kleber added a sixth-place finish to the day.
In the final swimming individual event, Purdue continued its reign as Lange and Kirchoff finished first and second in the 100 breaststroke with Rogalski in fifth, Bolanos in sixth and Stender in ninth.
In the 200 freestyle relay, the Boilermaker women added one final first-place finish with the team of Seleskie, Duchac, Dolansky and Paradeise.
In the diving events, Kara Hajek-Gustafson finished first on the 1-meter and Carrie Dougherty finished second. Then, on the 3-meter board, Hajek-Gustafson finished first again, while Dougherty finished third.
On the men's side, Ball State finished behind the Boilermakers with 529 points, IUPUI tallied 199 points, Indianapolis earned 190 points, Valparaiso finished with 125 points, Vincennes totaled 108 points, and Butler earned 91 points.
Tallying a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay, the Boilermakers started out strong. Freshman David Hughes, sophomore Tamas Bessenyei, and seniors Donovan Crowley and Jon Duncan finished first, as sophomore Kyle Jackson, junior Mike Miller, and seniors Javier Diaz and Ryan Sprengel earned the second-place spot.
Then, in the 200 freestyle, Purdue took first through fifth places with Jackson, freshman Rion Epping, senior Tom Drejer, freshman Steuart Martens, and sophomore Nick Cenci.
In the 50 free, freshman Ignatius Goh and senior Donovan Crowley tallied a 1-2 finish, while juniors Gui Rego and Mike Miller finished 11th and 14th.
Freshman Eric Prugh earned third place in the 200 individual medley, as Rego, sophomore Garth Bringman and junior Jeremy Wright finished fifth, eighth, and ninth.
Bessenyei earned a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly, as Goh finished third, sophomore Tony Ten Haagen finished fifth, junior Ehud Dekter earned sixth, sophomore Ian Lehman was seventh, and Martens was eighth. Drejer and Prugh finished 11th and 12th also.
Junior Tad Sayce finished first in the 100 freestyle, as Jackson, Sprengel, Dekter, and freshman John Arzner finished in third, fourth, fifth and ninth.
Duncan earned another first-place finish in the 100 backstroke, while Hughes, Cenci, Ten Haagen, Sayce, and Wright fell in behind with finishes of fourth, fifth, eighth, 12th and 17th, respectively.
In the men's 500 freestyle, Lehman tallied his only first-place finish on the day with Sprengel close behind in second place and Arzner in fourth.
The Old Gold and Black ruled the 100 breaststroke also, as defending Big Ten Champion Tamas Bessenyei finished first, Diaz second, Miller third, Crowley fourth, Epping 10th and Bringman 11th.
The Purdue team of Duncan, Goh, Diaz and Wright finished first in the 200 freestyle relay and the team of Sayce, Arzner, Prugh and Dekter finished third.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Purdue freshman Eric Warrick finished first with 253.70 points and freshman Clay Davis finished fourth with 214.60 points. On the 3-meter board, Davis earned first with a score of 283.55 points and Warrick was second with 259.75 points.
"Today I was especially proud of our divers," said Ross. "They ran the table, even without a coach and they did a really nice job. On the weekend, Rion Epping did a great job in the distance events and all the sprint guys added a lot. Overall, it was great to see our freshmen contribute so much and the team seems to be really together. We feel really special to have this facility and I think it shows with our inner confidence."
The Boilermakers will return to action when they host the annual Alumni Meet at the new Boilermaker Aquatic Center as the beginning of the Homecoming festivities on Friday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.
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