Feb. 2, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's swimming and diving team came away with a second-place finish today with wins over Illinois, 217-135, Minnesota, 207-145 and a defeat by Wisconsin, 185-164. The Boilermakers improve their record to 8-3 (5-2 Big Ten). In addition, six Doris Z. Holloway Pool records were set, five by Wisconsin and one by Illinois.
"Today was the way that we want to perform at Big Ten's," said Purdue head women's coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "We just came out, swam and were very confident - and the divers too, everyone just showed how hard we've been working. For the first time in a long time, I truly feel like we're ready for the challenges of the Big Ten Championships!
"We are also very, very excited about beating Minnesota. They are an exhemplary program and a great model for us to follow - from their facility and coaching staff to their team. Year-in and year-out, they have a great program and I think that it's an excellent testament to them that we feel like we've taken a giant step with our program when we've beaten them. So that win gives us a lot of confidence to go into the Big Ten meet and truly head into the championship season with confidence."
In the first event of the day, Purdue's 200 free relay team of juniors Lisa Dolansky and Lindsay Lange, freshman Tracy Duchac and junior Kim Paradeise came out with a time of 1:34.76 for second place, just shy of a season-best.
In the 400 IM, sophomore Jenni Bean was the Boilermakers' top finisher with a time of 4:27.00 for fourth place. Senior Kelly Mackus finished sixth with a time of 4:28.92.
Duchac and Paradeise finished 2-3 for the Old Gold and Black in the100 free race with times of 52.63 and 52.79, respectively.
Dolansky finished fifth for Purdue in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:03.28. Freshman Brandy Keever finished 11th with a time of 2:08.19 and freshmen Lydia DeNuccio and Brenda Banning finished 15th and 16th.
In the 100 butterfly, Purdue grabbed finishes of 2-3-6 with senior Karin Stender, junior Patricia Finnerty and sophomore Autumn Sample. Stender finished with a season-best 57.40, Finnerty in 57.60 and Sample in 58.64.
Boilermaker junior Shannon Funk finished eighth in the 500 free as Purdue's best finisher. She recorded a season-best time of 5:05.51. Senior Kelly Mackus was next with a time of 5:08.87 in ninth place.
The 200 breaststroke race was a strong one for Purdue, with finishes in third, fourth, seventh and ninth places. Junior Lindsay Lange posted a time of 2:20.64, sophomore Lindsay Kirchoff was next with a time of 2:21.31, senior Ronica Rogalski took seventh with a time of 2:23.23 and junior Karina Bolanos was ninth in 2:23.58.
The final event of the day brought a close race between the Wisconsin team that finished first and recorded the pool record, and the Boilermakers. Purdue's Katie Mullarkey, Lange, Duchac and Paradeise finished second with a time of 3:28.98.
In today's women's 3-meter diving competition, senior Kara Hajek-Gustafson continued her Big Ten reign and won with a score of 479.65, a personal season-best. Senior Molly MacFarlane finished sixth with a score of 410.25, junior Carrie Dougherty was eighth with 393.25 points and junior Heather Bachman finished 11th with a score of 373.40.
"This was an awesome weekend for Purdue swimming and diving," said Wright-Eger. "To be able to host this meet for the first time and have this caliber of competition come into our new facility at home was just great! I'm really proud of our staff that they did such a great job with the whole thing and this whole season long."
The Boilermakers will return to the water at the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, Feb. 20-23 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Information about tickets to follow the Old Gold and Black to Michigan can be found at www.mgoblue.com. Follow the links for the Women's Swimming and Diving Championship page.
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