Nov. 18, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's swimming and diving team held its lead for the third day to win the Northwestern Invitational. The Boilermakers totaled 1,170 points compared to second-place and 21st-ranked Northwestern's 1,078. Southern Illinois finished third with 477 points and Louisville was fourth with 226.
"I am just so proud of this team this weekend," said Purdue head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "Everyone had an awesome weekend and a lot of people had some really big breakthroughs that they'd been waiting for for a long time. This meet should really give us the confidence and the boost we need to go into the holiday training period."
In the day's first event, junior Lisa Dolansky tallied a first-place finish, a life-time best, a Purdue varsity record and an NCAA 'B' cut in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:01.16. Following Dolansky to the finish was freshman Brandy Keever in fifth place with a time of 2:07.04 and junior Shannon Funk with a time of 2:08.58 in seventh place. In the consolation heat, freshman Brenda Banning finished 11th.
Dolansky came back to lead the Boilermakers' 1-2-3-4-6 finish in the 100 free. Dolansky's time of 51.48 led juniors Kim Paradeise (2nd, 51.55) and Jenni Bean (3rd, 52.20) and freshmen Katie Seleskie (4th, 52.34) and Christine Leupold (6th, 52.41). Junior Katie Mullarkey also scored with an eighth-place finish in 53.61. In the consolation heat, freshmen Tracy Duchac and Jill Collins also scored points in 10th and 16th places.
In the 200 breaststroke, sophomore Lindsay Kirchoff led Purdue's pack with a second-place finish in 2:20.78. Senior Ronica Rogalski grabbed a life-time best with a fourth-place finish in 2:22.95. Junior Lindsay Lange finished fifth with a time of 2:23.17, junior Karina Bolanos was sixth in 2:24.25 and senior Kelly Mackus was seventh in 2:25.61.
Mackus came back in the very next race to finish fifth in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 7.24.51 and freshman Lindsey Meier finished ninth with a time of 17:51.39.
The Boilermakers scored three people in the top eight of the 200 butterfly with junior Patricia Finnerty in fifth (2:03.88), sophomore Autumn Sample in sixth (2:05.14) and junior Karin Stender in seventh (2:05.62.) In the consolation heat, Bolanos, sophomore Stacie Kleber and freshman Lydia DeNuccio finished ninth, 11th and 15th, respectively.
In the final event of the weekend, Purdue finished off with another first-place finish in the 400 free relay. Dolansky, Bean, Seleskie and Paradeise tallied a time of 3:26.65, while the team of Leupold, Banning, Mullarkey and Lange finished third.
The Boilermakers will return to action when they head to Florida for their annual Christmas training and competition. Purdue will participate in the Pinecrest Invitational on Jan. 4, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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