Feb. 17, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Purdue began its second night of action at the Big Ten Championships recording another varsity record. The 200 freestyle relay finished third in 1:31.09, topping the previous record of 1:31.60 set in 2003 by NCAA qualifiers Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange, Tracy Duchac and Kim Paradeise.
Head coach Cathy Wright-Eger was happy with her relay's time and effort.
"I feel real good about getting our relay into the NCAA Championships, because we're only .08 seconds off the automatic qualifying standard," said Wright-Eger, whose team plays host to the national meet, March 17 to 19.
The Boilermakers entered the meet with the nation's fifth-fastest time of 1:31.85, but the quartet of Christine Leupold, Duchac, Lauren Willis and Susan Hentschel was outdistanced by teams from Michigan (1:29.56) and Wisconsin (1:30.73).
The Boilermakers have broken four varsity records through seven events at the championships. During Thursday's prelims Hentschel posted a new standard of 22.86 in the 50 free and Carrie McCambridge scored 322.15 points of the 1-meter springboard. Last night the 800 free relay posted a school record time of 7:17.99.
Hentschel and Leupold scored for the Boilermakers in the 50 free, finishing fifth and 10th. Hentschel could not duplicate her earlier effort as she finished in 23.08. Leupold improved on her prelim mark of 23.09 with a new lifetime best of 22.95 and freshman Willis collected one point with a 16th-place time of 23.64.
A pair of Wolverine sophomores, Kaitlyn Brady and Lindsay Smith, finished first and second in the 50 free, posting NCAA automatic qualifying times of 22.48 and 22.78.
In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Jennifer Merte improved on her prelim mark but fell back two places and finished seventh in 2:03.82. Classmate Rory Belk improved one spot to place 15th with a time of 2:06.15.
Michigan rookie Justine Meuller won the 200 IM crown in 1:57.78, a time which was approximately three seconds faster than the runner-up Anna Trinidad of Wisconsin (2:00.42).
In the 500 free, Badger Carly Piper made history by winning the event for a fourth consecutive year. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist recorded a time of 4:42.00, edging Penn State sophomore Erin Morris by just .17 seconds.
Incredibly, the Nittany Lions scored eight swimmers in the 500 free, helping them build a 39-point lead through seven events. PSU also had three people score in the 200 IM and two more in the 50 free, but were shut out of diving.
Indiana controlled the 1-meter springboard, as four divers scored among the top eight. However, McCambridge helped break up IU's stable with a second-place total of 315.30 points. I
U freshman Christina Loukas won the 1-meter title with a Big Ten and pool record total of 332.70 points. Also scoring for the Hoosiers were Cassandra Cardinell, Lindsay Weigle and PSU-transfer Lisa Silvestri.
"Carrie had a great meet," said Wright-Eger. "She came in with all the pressure of having won three times here last season, but she's fighting hard through all the distractions."
The first full day of competition ended with Penn State in first with 238 points and Michigan in second with 199 points. The 63 points earned by its divers helped push host IU past Wisconsin (181) into third place with 183 points. Purdue is settled in fifth with 145 points, 23 points ahead of sixth-place Minnesota (122).
Iowa (91), Illinois (85), Northwestern (83), Ohio State (80) and Michigan State (53) round out the 11-team field.
"We experienced some real highs and real lows today, so we have to make up for today's missed opportunities the next two days of the meet," said Wright-Eger.
Friday's third day of competition begins at 11 a.m. Live results of the Big Ten Championships can be accessed here.