Jan. 22, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 24 Indiana defeated 19th-ranked Purdue Saturday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, 157 to 141. The Boilermakers won seven of 16 events, but it was not enough to prevent the Hoosiers from winning the annual dual for a fifth-straight year.
"To say I'm disappointed is a grave understatement," said head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "We had the opportunity to win, but we let it slip though our hands; people needed to step up and did not.
"I warned my team that IU would come in swimming fast, and we just didn't respond. Whatever could have gone wrong, did."
The loss dropped Purdue's record to 3-2 (2-1 Big Ten), while IU improved to 6-2 (3-1 Big Ten). The rivals meet again in Bloomington for the Big Ten Championships, Feb. 16-19.
After IU jumped out to an early 10-point lead, the Boilermakers responded in the 200 freestyle, capturing first and second places. Team captain Christine Leupold won her first of two races, touching the wall with an NCAA provisional time of 1:49.69. Susan Hentschel was the runner-up with another 'B' cut of 1:50.35.
Purdue took its biggest lead of the meet, 50-43, with a four-place sweep in the 100 breaststroke. The Boilermaker quartet was led by freshman Shannon Grace, who finished in 1:05.07. She was followed to the finish line by Jennifer Lavers (1:05.26), Rory Belk (1:05.40) and Morgan Goldthwaite (1:07.09).
Heading into the first break, Purdue held a 66-65 lead, thanks to a Tracy Duchac win in the 50 free (23.56), but the Boilermakers slipped in the second half.
Although the Old Gold and Black won half of the final eight events, it did not collect enough second and third-place points. Purdue wins came courtesy of Leupold (100 free - 51.42), Rory Belk (200 Breast - 2:20.01), Carrie McCambridge (3-meter; 303.00) and the 400 free relay, which won off an IU disqualification.
The winning 400 free relay time of 3:27.41 was recorded by Duchac, Katie Seleskie, Erica Chandler and Kimbre Vogel.
McCambridge came close to sweeping the diving events, but fell 1.45 points short of catching 1-meter champion Cassandra Cardinell (291.90). McCambridge slipped past IU's Christina Loukas for second by .07 points. IU's diving proved to be one of its top strengths, taking four of the top five places off the 1-meter and three of the top five places off the 3-meter.
Wright-Eger was satisfied with the performances of her victors, and was proud of walk-on Rachel Murphy's effort in the 100 fly, placing fourth with a season best time of 58.96.
The schedule gets tougher for Purdue next weekend as it welcomes No. 9 Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois to the Boilermaker Aquatic Center for a two-day quadrangular. The meet starts Friday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m., and concludes Saturday at Noon.