Oct. 30, 2002
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Purdue women's swimming and diving team tied the 14th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday, 150-150, at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. With the tie, the Boilermakers sit at 0-0-1 on the year.
"Today's meet was just so exciting," said Purdue head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "I think it was really good for us to go up against such a good, ranked team and a team that we have such respect for. Last year they beat us by 110 points and in only one year, we turned around and tied them.
"Today's success just goes to show that you never give up. You can be down after one event and then up by several points after another. Overall, I am just really pleased with the team's competitive spirit. We had people step up and our relays were key today. In both our relays, we finished first and third; that's outscoring them 26-8."
The Boilermakers began the meet with a very strong start, winning the first event, the 200 medley relay, with a time of 1:45.56. The team of Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Patricia Finnerty and Kim Paradeise beat the nearest Notre Dame lane by over one second, while the Boilermakers also took third for two more points with the team of Brandy Keever, Lindsay Kirchoff, Autumn Sample and Tracy Duchac in 1:47.53.
In the 1,000 freestyle, Purdue finished fourth, fifth and sixth for three points from freshman Yvonne Laaper, senior Shannon Funk and sophomore Lindsey Meier. Laaper finished in 10:26.32, tops for Purdue, while Funk finished in 10:30.38 and Meier in 10:37.44. Freshman Kristen Melville also exhibitioned the 1,000 race.
The Boilermakers dominated in the 200 free, finishing 1-2-3. Freshman Erica Chandler came in first with a time of 1:51.45, while sophomore Christine Leupold was second in 1:53.25. Rounding out the top three was junior Jenni Bean in 1:54.66. Sophomore Jill Collins swam in the exhibition.
Dolansky reeled in another nine points for the Old Gold and Black with her first-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.02, while Keever, a sophomore, finished third in 58.26 for three points. Sophomore Lydia DeNuccio and freshman Ashley Koehn also swam the 100 back for sixth and seventh places.
Another first-and-third finish in the 100 breaststroke gave the Boilermakers 12 more points, as Lange and Kirchoff finished with times of 1:04.76 and 1:06.70, respectively. Senior Karina Bolanos finished in sixth place with a time of 1:07.57.
Purdue took four points in the 200 butterfly, as Sample and Finnerty finished third and fifth, respectively. Sample tallied a time of 2:04.72, while Finnerty finished in 2:08.35. Sophomore Sara Hayworth also swam the 200 fly, finishing in sixth place with a time of 2:14.67.
The 50 freestyle was a hotly contested race, as Duchac, a sophomore, finished just two hundredths of a second behind the first-place finisher for Notre Dame. Duchac gathered a time of 24.01, while Paradeise was right behind for third place in 24.44. Sophomore Katie Seleskie finished in sixth place for Purdue.
On the one-meter board, sophomore Carrie McCambridge led the Old Gold and Black with second place and a score of 299.85. In third, senior Heather Bachman tallied a score of 244.35.
Event 9 was the 100 free with the Boilermakers finishing 1-3-5 with Paradeise, Bean and Seleskie. Paradeise tallied a time of 52.23, Bean a time of 53.06 and Seleskie went 53.83. Duchac swam in the exhibition for sixth place.
In the 200 back, Dolansky was able to out-touch ND's Marie Labosky for first in 2:02.03, while Keever finished fifth with a time of 2:09.45. DeNuccio and Hayworth also swam, finishing seventh and eighth.
The Old Gold and Black took 3-4-5 in the 200 breast with Lange, Kirchoff and Bolanos. With times of 2:22.76, 2:24.26 and 2:25.06, the trio earned six points. Laaper swam the exhibition for seventh place.
After 11 events, the scores showed the tight competition, with Notre Dame leading by one point, 104-103.
The 500 freestyle saw Chandler take another first-place finish with a time of 4:56.88 and Leupold finish third in 5:05.28. Funk and Meier came in sixth and eighth.
In the 100 butterfly, Finnerty and Sample came in third and fifth for four more Purdue points. The tallied times of 57.68 and 58.22, respectively. Hayworth and DeNuccio finished seventh and eighth in 1:02.35 and 1:02.75.
On the 3-meter board, the Boilermakers could not have asked for better finishes, as they finished 1-2-4 with McCambridge in first with a score of 311.92, Bachman in second with 297.67 points and Dougherty in fourth with 272.02. Kerns finished in seventh in the exhibition.
Chandler produced again for the Old Gold and Black with a lifetime-best in the 400 IM and a finish of fourth with a time of 4:27.89. Bean came in fifth for Purdue in 4:29.05, as the Boilermakers gathered three points.
The meet came down to the final relay event, the 400 freestyle, to determine a winner of the meet. The Boilermaker team of Dolansky, Paradeise, Leupold and Chandler took the first-place time of 3:28.34 to the finish, while the third-place team of Seleskie, Keever, Lange and Bean finished in 3:35.86.
The Old Gold and Black will return to the pool on Friday night at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, when they host Iowa and Miami (Ohio) to open both the home dual season and the Big Ten calendar. Meet time is 6 p.m. EST.
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