Jan. 21, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana handed Purdue women's swimming and diving (6-1) its first loss Saturday, winning 177-123 at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Despite the loss, Boilermaker head coach Cathy Wright-Eger was impressed with her team's effort.
"Sure we wanted to win, but our times from this meet compared to last years are so much better," said Wright-Eger. "The team feels confident and that's because they're a mentally stronger bunch. They're not afraid of the competition, and refuse to back down."
Purdue won five events. Senior co-captain Erica Chandler finished first in the 500 (4:52.93) and 1000 freestyle (10:01.41); Carlene Takaki swept the butterfly races with marks of 55.15 and 1:59.96, and Shannon Grace won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.89.
Takaki's time in the 200 fly was a personal best as was Grace's mark in the 100 breast.
Indiana gained control of the meet early on, claiming the second, third and fourth places in the 200 free. The Hoosiers also used their depth in the 200 breaststroke with a first through third sweep, and outscored the Boilermaker divers, 26-12.
IU's performance in the 200 breast shocked Wright-Eger, considering the amount of depth her team has in this race with Grace, 2005 NCAA competitor Jennifer Lavers and junior Rory Belk.
In addition to her winner's, Wright-Eger also was impressed with Jenae Gill, Kimbre Vogel and Nicole Weatherman.
Gill placed second in the 100 back with a 56.27, which is close to her personal record of 55.95. Vogel was second in the 50 free (23.79) and third in the 100 free (52.46), and Weatherman lost second-place points in the 1000 free by just .01 seconds (10:10.47 to 10:10.48).
Purdue next heads to Minneapolis for its final dual meets of the season, competing in the annual Big Ten quadrangular against Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. The two-day event runs from Jan. 27 to 28.