March 26, 2004
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. - Tamas Bessenyei, Louis Paul and Giordan Pogioli were kept out of the finals of their respecitve races during the second day of preliminaries at the NCAA Championships.
Paul, competing in the 200-meter freestyle, recorded a lifetime best of 1:48.86 but finished 30th in the field of 54 competitors. His previous best was a 1:54.00, which he recorded while competing in Australia.
Bessenyei and Pogioli placed 25th and 27th in the prelims of the 100-meter breaststroke, as Pogioli came across in 1:01.30 and Bessenyei in 1:01.56.
"Tamas was feeling confident going into this event but didn't execute one of his turns like he should have," said Purdue head coach Dan Ross. "As for Louis, he was where he needed to be after the first 100-meters, however, he just didn't finish as well as he wanted to. Unfortunately, we have no one coming back tonight, but I'm sure we'll make a move tomorrow in the 200 backstroke and breaststroke. With the time Giordan posted today, I'm confident he'll be allright in the 200 breast."
Diver J.R. Hillis placed 35th off the three-meter springboard with a score of 238.90. The native of Kokomo, Ind. will compete again Saturday off the platform, the board which he won at NCAA Central Regional Diving Zones.