Nov. 5, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Boosted by a victory in the 200 freestyle relay and a second-place effort from diver Carrie McCambridge off the 1-meter springboard, Purdue found itself in fourth place (152 points) after Friday's opening session of the Boilermaker Challenge.
`Challenge' does not accurately describe the depth of this meet, which features three-top ten clubs in No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Texas and No. 9 UCLA, as well as No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 14 Virginia, No. 17 Michigan and No. 18 Tennessee. Purdue entered this meet ranked 23rd.
The Gator women lead the eight-team pack with 197 points, but the Aggies are close behind with 191 points. UCLA is in third with 156.5 points.
Texas (149.5), Michigan (143.5), Tennessee (128) and Virginia (122), all sit behind the Boilermakers with two sessions left to compete.
The Boilermakers made a statement in their home pool, by winning the meet-opening 200 free relay with a NCAA provisional mark of 1:33.25. The victorious quartet was comprised of Christine Leupold, Susan Hentschel, Kimbre Vogel and Tracy Duchac.
Purdue's `B' cut was one of 22 recorded during the session. Ten of those provisional standards were recorded in the 500 free, as was Michigan's Susan Gilliam's NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 4:45.02.
Five more NCAA `B' marks were clocked in the 50 free, including Duchac's fifth-place showing of 23.44. Vogel and Leupold also scored big points in this race as they tied for eighth place at 23.80.
Elsewhere in the pool, Erica Chandler placed 16th in the 500 free at 4:57.59, and the 400 medley relay team of Brandy Keever, Shannon Grace, Jennifer Merte and Duchac placed 13th at 3:54.08.
McCambridge was the runner-up to Florida's Jessica Ranieri off the 1-meter, scoring a mark of 265.40 to Ranieri's 274.00. Amanda Miller placed ninth with a score of 233.90.
Saturday's run of the Boilermaker Challenge is split into two session. The morning session begins at 11 a.m., and the night session starts at 6 p.m. Heats of the 1,650 free are expected to start around 3 p.m.