Nov. 22, 2003
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Purdue's women's swimming and diving team fell one spot, from fourth to fifth, during the second day of competition of the Texas A&M Fall Invitational, but head coach Cathy Wright-Eger is feeling good about her team's performances.
"I feel very good about where were at in the standings," said Wright Eger. "The team is gaining a great deal of confidence competing alongside these top-20-caliber teams, and this is really important to see when you're carrying 13 freshmen and a number of up-and-coming upperclassmen."
Purdue with 907 points, is only six points behind fourth-place Florida State, which is the No. 20 team in the country. No. 11 UCLA holds the overall lead with 1413 points, while host No. 17 Texas A&M is in second with 1155 and No. 8 SMU is in third with 1016.
No. 17 Virginia (589) and No. 19 Notre Dame (483) are placed sixth and seventh.
Wright-Eger was particularly pleased with the performance of the 800-meter freestyle relay team, which placed third with an NCAA consideration mark of 8:15.07. Featured on the bronze-medal team were Christine Leupold, Susan Hentschel, Katie Seleskie and Erica Chandler.
"Katie (Seleskie) has been having the meet of her life this weekend," said Wright-Eger. "She's been a catalyst for us in a number of events and is just making a huge difference for the team."
This weekend Seleskie has recorded lifetime bests in all her events, including the 50 (26.29) and 200-meter freestyle (2:04.87), 100-meter breaststroke (1:14.52), and the 200 and 800-meter freestyle relays. All times are measured in short course meters rather than the traditional short course yardage.
Saturday's running of the 200 free was Purdue's top individual swimming event, as Leupold and Chandler placed among the top eight. Leupold's time of 2:01.40 was a lifetime best by over two seconds, and just missed setting a new varsity record. The current record is held by Lisa Dolansky, who set it last season. Chandler placed seventh in at 2:04.34.
Chandler and Leupold also made up half the 200 medley relay team, which placed fifth with a mark of 1:56.93. Comprising the remainder of the squad were Brandy Keever, who swam the leadoff backstroke leg, and Hentschel, who took care of the freestyle portion.
For a second consecutive afternoon, two of Purdue's divers cracked the top eight off the 1-meter springboard. Carrie McCambridge was again the Boilermakers' top finisher with a third-place score of 269.20, and finishing close behind her in fifth place was freshman Bethany Jensen, who posted an impressive mark of 264.05.
The women's team concludes competition Sunday with the 1,500-meter freestyle. Wright-Eger believes her team is still in the hunt for more points, and that her team will move up the standings if they focus on finishing strong.
Boilermaker fans can access live results of the meet on Sunday via www.aggieathletics.com.