Jan. 16, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's swimming and diving squad captured seven individual victories, including two by diver Clay Davis, but they weren't enough to overwhelm the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines Friday night at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The Wolverines, which had a huge lead early on, escaped with the 129-114 win.
Michigan improved their dual record to 3-4 and Purdue dropped to 3-5. All five losses have come to nationally ranked opponents.
"The closeness of this meet towards the end is a tribute to our team's racing abilities," said head coach Dan Ross. "Our focus on racing kept us alive through the very last race, but unfortunately we've fallen just short the last three meets. I'm very proud of the performances of Tamas (Bessenyei), Blake (Scholz) and Iggy, as well as all the divers. It's nice to see the divers continue to excel even without the presence of their head coach (Wenbo Chen)."
The divers were among Purdue's top stars as Davis led a pair of three-way sweeps with his victories off the 1- and 3-meter springboards. Davis began the meet setting a new pool record off the 1-meter, scoring a 314.17. The old record of 313.80 was recorded earlier this season by Iowa's Timo Klami at the Purdue Invitational.
Placing right behind Davis were teammates J.R. Hillis and David Hanisch, who scored marks of 292.87 and 291.90. Hanisch's score was a personal-best and qualified him for an appearance at the NCAA Central Regional Diving Zones in Bloomington, Ind.
Hanisch remained focused off the 3-meter board, again recording a personal best of 284.10, which was good for third place. Davis and Hillis finished one-two, as Davis edged his cohort, 323.77 to 317.55. Hillis' score, a personal best, also surpassed the regional diving zone standard. With Hanisch making the diving zone cut, Purdue will now send five divers to zones.
Volunteer assistant diving coach Jerry Jensen, who was filling in for head diving coach Wenbo Chen, was quite pleased with the performances of Bob Hennessy. The sophomore placed sixth off the 3-meter with a personal best of 232.57 and fifth off the 1-meter (222.37).
In the pool, Purdue collected wins from Bessenyei, Goh, Scholz and Louis Paul. In the 200-yard breaststroke, the tandem of Bessenyei and Pogioli finished one-two, with Bessenyei finishing ahead of the sophomore, 1:58.40 to 2:01.09. Bessenyei's mark was his fastest of the season and beat the NCAA consideration standard by over two seconds. The duo has now accounted for 12 wins through both breaststroke races this season.
The breastroke sweep brought the Boilermakers to within 12 points of Michigan with just the 400 freestyle relay left to go, but the Wolverines captured the 11 first-place points with their mark of 3:02.58. Purdue rounded up the second and third positions, collecting the remaining six points. The second-place team of Eric Prugh, Andre Pereira, Goh and Trey Smith finished at 3:05.40.
Michigan ended the meet with a relay win and started with one as well in the 400 medley. The win by the Wolverine quartet of Chris DeJong, Christian and Peter Vanderkaay and Davis Tarwater set the tone for the first half of the meet, winning in 3:19.15. Their mark was a second faster than the second-place Purdue squad of Paul, Bessenyei, Goh and Pereira (3:20.83).
Michigan then went on to win four of the next six races, as it built up a seemingly insurmountable lead. Most damaging were its three-way sweeps of the 1,000 freestyle and the 200 individual medley.
Purdue continued to fight for points, with Goh and Smith finishing first and third in the 50 free, and Scholz and Nick Cenci placing in the same order in the 200 butterfly. Goh's winning time in the 50 free was clocked at 21.14, while Scholz came across in 1:49.55. Prugh also collected high scores in trying to keep the team alive; the junior finished second in the 200 free (1:41.66) and third in the 100 free (46.53).
After Purdue gained some momentum (and points) from their divers at the halfway mark, the Wolverines counterpunched with a one-two showing in the 100 free thanks to DeJong and Andrew Hurd. The resilient Boilermakers then threw a jab of their own in the 200 back, as Paul and Kyle Jackson finished in the first and third spots. Michigan started to teter a bit, but the No. 6 team in the nation showed why they are tops in the Big Ten, storming back with a three-way sweep of the 500 free. Even with Purdue's one-two finish in the breaststroke, it was almost too severe of a punch to overcome.
In the 500 free, Wolverine Dan Ketchum set a new pool record with his winning time of 4:25.85. The previous record of 4:28.00 was established by Northwestern's Brian Davis at the Purdue Invitational last November.
Saturday afternoon at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, the men's and women's teams wrap up their home dual meet season, welcoming in the Michigan State Spartans. Prior to the meet, nine seniors will be recognized in a special ceremony. The Boilermakers being honored are Jenni Bean, Lindsay Kirchoff, Autumn Sample, Bessenyei, Garth Bringman, Nick Cenci, Kyle Jackson, Ian Lehman and Tony Ten Haagen. Competition is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with the 200 medley relay.
The Spartans upset Purdue last season in East Lansing, but Ross assures that his team will not be caught sleeping again.