March 22, 2003
AUBURN, Ala. - Purdue's women's swimming team finished its successful run at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday afternoon. Led by the strength of their relay teams, the Boilermakers collected 13 honorable mention All-America honors and several top-15 showings during their weekend trip to Auburn.
Purdue finished the tournament in 28th place with 23 points; its best finish since 1994 (26th place). The Auburn Tigers won the national championship meet with a staggering total of 536 points, finishing far ahead of runner-up Georgia, which earned 373 points. Natalie Coughlin of California was the meet's leading scorer with 60 points.
"I thought we swam pretty well this morning, despite not being able to reach the finals," said Purdue head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "Everyone scored a time that was at or near their personal bests, so I'm more than pleased with our efforts."
Purdue's tournament run ended after the 400 freestyle relay team of Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Tracy Duchac and Kim Paradeise finished one second behind the 16th and final qualifier, Penn State. The Boilermakers' time of 3:23.81 placed them 19th.
Lange posted the team's best individual showing, placing 25th in the 200 breaststroke with a season-best mark of 2:16.40, which was just a few fractions of a second slower than her career best of 2:16.23.
In other preliminary results from Saturday, Dolansky placed 25th in the 200 back at 1:59.62; Patricia Finnerty took 39th in the 200 fly (2:02.94) and Kim Paradeise clocked a time of 51.29 in the 100 freestyle.
The women's season is still one meet away from completion. The Boilermakers will send their top competitors to the U.S. Senior Nationals being held in Indianapolis from April 1-5.
The men's team starts its turn at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships next weekend in Austin, Texas. The Boilermakers will be represented at the University of Texas by Louis Paul, Tamas Bessenyie and Giordan Poglioli.