Feb. 15, 2006
COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Boilermakers find themselves two points out of fourth place after the first night of competition at the Big Ten Championships.
Wisconsin leads the event through two events (200 medley relay, 800 free relay) with 72 points and Minnesota is second with 70 points. Michigan is third with 64 points while Hoosier-state rivals Indiana (56) and Purdue (54) are in a battle for fourth.
Host Ohio State (50), Illinois (46), Iowa (40), Northwestern (36), Penn State (34) and Michigan State (12) round out the 11-team field. The defending champion Nittany Lions and Spartans were both disqualified during the 200 medley relay.
Purdue began the meet with a fifth-place showing in the 200 medley relay, posting an NCAA consideration mark of 1:42.00. The team of Jenae Gill (25.75), Jen Lavers (29.12), Carlene Takaki (24.31) and Kimbre Vogel (22.82) all recorded season-best splits.
The Boilermakers followed up with a sixth-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay, completing the course in 7:20.35. Katharine Telfer's split of 1:48.96 impressed head coach Cathy Wright-Eger, although she expected the relay to perform better as a whole.
"We're only two points out of fourth, so we'll just have to come back and get at them tomorrow," said Wright-Eger.
Thursday's schedule of events includes the 50 and 500 freestyle, the 200 individual medley and 1-meter diving. Prelims start at 11 a.m. and finals at 7 p.m. Live results can be accessed through ohiostatebuckeyes.com.