Nov. 7, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The slimmest of margins decided the Purdue-Iowa women's swimming and diving meet in Iowa City on Friday. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, they ended up on the short side of a 154-144 score, which gave the Hawkeyes a victory in a Big Ten meet at the UI Fieldhouse Swimming Pool. Purdue is now 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten. Iowa is 3-2 (2-1 Big Ten).
Going into the final relay, the 400 free, Iowa led 141-140. In a photo finish, the Hawkeyes out-touched the Purdue team of junior Tracy Duchac, freshman Kimbre Vogel, junior Katie Seleskie and freshman Susan Hentschel by a mere one-tenth of a second (3:26.39-3:26.49). Iowa's second relay team placed third, giving the Hawkeyes a total of 13 points for the last event. A first-place finish by Purdue would have given the Boilermakers at least a 151-147 victory.
Sophomore Carrie McCambridge swept the diving competition for the third consecutive week. She won the 1-meter with 276.83 points, and the 3-meter with 297.30. Freshman Bethany Jensen finished right behind McCambridge in both events, while freshman Lauren Whitmore finished third in both.
All told, Purdue got 32 points from its divers.
Purdue finished 1-2 in both the 50 and 100 free. In the former, Duchac touched in 23.59, while Vogel touched in 24.28. In the latter, junior Christine Leupold out-touched Duchac 52.04-52.07.
Sophomore Erica Chandler and sophomore Yvonne Laaper finished first and second in the 1,000 free. Chandler touched in 10:14.03, while Laaper came in at 10:17.11.
In the first event of the afternoon, Purdue's 400 medley A and B relay teams placed second and third, with times of 3:54.03 and 3:55.90. Iowa won in 3:53.06.
Purdue head coach Cathy Wright-Eger, who saw her young team post 41 season-best performances, was pleased with the effort despite the outcome.
"This was our first Big Ten meet on the road and we saw some good things," Wright-Eger said. "Our 13 freshmen learned very quickly how competitive this conference is."
The Boilermakers will return to action Nov. 14, with a tri-meet against Florida Atlantic and Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
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