Jan. 17, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A day removed from a tough loss to No. 6 Michigan, the Purdue men's swimming and diving team rebounded with an overwhelming 190-105 triumph over the Michigan State Spartans Saturday afternoon at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Top-notch performances were given by Tamas Bessenyei, Louis Paul and Ignatius Goh, who each won three races, including the opening 200-yard medley relay.
"Yesterday a couple of our guys swam real well, but today we filled in all the holes; everyone had a great meet," said head coach Dan Ross, whose Boilermakers now stand at 4-5. "I was real happy with our medley relay, also it was nice to see Louis (Paul) winning the 100 and 200 free and Eric (Prugh) finishing second in the 100 and 200 back. Those are races they don't normally compete in, but they raced extremely well."
Paul's wins in the freestyle races were both quite convincing. He first topped teammate Kyle Jackson by nearly three seconds in the 200 free, 1:38.92 to 1:41.53; however, most impressive was the fact that Paul's time came in just under the NCAA consideration standard of 1:39.07. In the 100 free, Paul beat the Spartan's Jason Vadeny to the wall by just over a second. Boilermaker John Arzner captured third place in the 100 free, coming across in 47.52.
Purdue continued its dominance in the sprint freestyle, with Goh and Andre Pereira taking the top-two spots in the 50 free. Goh touched the wall in 21.15, while Pereira was not too far off that pace at 21.30. Goh's second individual victory occured in the 100 butterfly, beating out Michigan State's James Steele and teammate Blake Scholz.
Earlier in the meet, Scholz won the 200 fly title in leading a three-way Purdue sweep. His winning time of 1:49.93 propelled him past teammates Nick Cenci (1:53.10) and Mark Enoch (1:53.53) to the finish line.
The tandem of Bessenyei and Giordan Pogioli came close to sweeping the top-two spots in both breaststroke races for the third consecutive meet, but the Spartan's Ian Clutten squeaked by the Purdue sophomore to the finish line by .30 seconds. Bessenyei raced incredibly well as he achieved NCAA consideration marks in both races. In the 100-yard breast, Bessenyei touched the wall in 55.15 and in the 200 breast he recorded a mark of 2:00.11.
Overall, Purdue won 12 of 15 events, including both diving competitions. The Boilermakers dropped the last two races on the scoreboard (200 IM and 200 free relay) after designating all their competitors as exhibitions. The only race Michigan State won outright was the 100 back, in which the Spartan's Rudolf Wagenaar emerged victorious (50.82). Finishing right behind Wagenaar were Boilermakers Prugh (51.52) and freshman Luke Dickson (53.28).
The backstroke tandem of Jackson and Prugh later battled past Wagenaar in the 200 back, with the Purdue senior coming in first at 1:51.79. Prugh's second-place time was clocked at 1:52.30.
Following its leadoff win in the 200 medley, Purdue received the first of two wins from junior Steuart Martens. The distance freestyler began his day with a victory in the 1,000 free and then added a win in the 500 free. Martens' winning time of 9:37.79 was over two seconds faster than the runner-up, David Hable of Michigan State. Mark Wolfred took third in the 1,000 at 9:43.60.
In the 500 free, Purdue again received points from the one and three spots thanks to Martens and Cenci. Martens winning time was clocked at 4:40.11, while Cenci came across in 4:43.14.
Although revenge was not on the minds of the Boilermakers, who suffered a tough loss last season in East Lansing, Ross made sure his team came out focused.
"I expected a closer meet, but everyone remained focused and competitive," said Ross. "This team has performed incredibly well and has overcome a lot of adversity. Three guys who we had in August and thought would be with us now, are not, but everyone has done a great job in filling in for those guys. Since we know we can swim well here at home, this team is very confident going into Big Tens."
Diver Clay Davis came within one win of sweeping both diving competitions this weekend, but he was outscored by teammate J.R. Hillis off the 1-meter springboard. Hillis scored a winning mark of 271.27, while Davis settled for a 263.10. In the 3-meter competition, Davis swithced places with Hillis, winning 313.72 to 289.65.
The Boilermakers return to action Jan. 30 and 31, when they travel for a triangular meet at Wisconsin. Also competing in the meet in Madison will be Minnesota.