Feb. 7, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Boilermaker men's swimming and diving team dropped its regular-season finale Saturday to the Indiana Hoosiers, 134-107. Louis Paul and Clayton Davis led the Boilermakers with two wins each, while Tamas Bessenyei and Giordan Pogioli swept the 200-yard breaststroke race.
Eric Prugh also won for the Boilermakers, winning the 200-yard freestyle in 1:40.11; Kyle Jackson placed a close third at 1:41.66.
Bessenyei's and Pogioli's sweep was their fourth in a row, and this time it was Bessenyei out-touching the sophomore by .04 seconds, 1:59.90 to 1:59.94. Indiana's Kevin Swander, who is one of the top breaststroke swimmers in the conference, placed third at 2:00.15. Pogioli's time was a season best by .35 seconds.
The one-two finish helped reduce Purdue's deficit late in the dual, but it wasn't enough to overcome a trio of Hoosier sweeps in the 50-, 100- and 500-yard freestyle races.
"We did not lose this meet, they beat us," said head coach Dan Ross. "There is nothing to hang our heads about. You hate to lose, but if we would have had a few touchouts here or there we would have won. We learned a lot from this meet and we'll be ready for West Lafayette on February 26."
A number of career and season bests recorded Saturday should boost the team's confidence heading into the Big Ten Championships meet, which it will play host to at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Personal bests were registered by Mark Wolfred in the 1,000 free, Pogioli in the 200 individual medley, Trey Smith in the 100 free and Steve Miskovetz in the 200 breast.
Garth Bringman (1,000 free), Nik Conley (50 free), Nick Cenci (200 fly), Paul (200 IM) and the 400 medley relay team all clocked season best efforts. Bringman's time of 9:38.39 was seven seconds faster than his previous best.
Paul had one of his top meets of the season Saturday, winning the 200 backstroke and 200 IM in convincing fashion. The native Australian beat IU's Murph Halaz in the 200 back by nearly two seconds with a mark of 1:50.52, and later topped the Hoosier's Matt Leach by the same margin. Paul's season-best time in the 200 IM was clocked at 1:48.55.
Davis led the diving squad for a second straight week with his wins off the 1- and 3-meter springboards. The two-time Big Ten Diver of the Week, scored a 306.82 off the 1-meter and a 312.30 off the 3-meter, as Purdue's divers outscored Indiana's, 28-8. Josh Karshen placed third in each discipline, while David Hanisch (1-meter) and J.R. Hillis (3-meter) each scored one fourth-place showing.
Last season, Indiana's divers got the better of their Gold and Black rivals, 31-7.
Purdue has just under three weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, which run from Feb. 26 to 28. A web site has been established, providing ticket and parking information, a schedule of events and other related news. The site can be accessed from its link located on the front page of www.purduesports.com.