Feb. 16, 2006
COLUMBUS, OHIO - Carrie McCambridge and Amanda Miller finished third and fourth off the 1-meter springboard Thursday night at the Big Ten Championships, leaving Purdue in sixth place with 127 points after two days of competition.
McCambridge, a three-time All-American and former Big Ten Diver of the Year, finished with 321.15 points, which was just 1.65 points away from tying Iowa's Nancilea Underwood for the runner-up spot.
Indiana's Christina Loukas dominated the board with 345.20 points, scoring over 60 points on her second dive and over 58 points on her fourth and fifth attempts.
Miller's fourth-place score of 301.15 was the best showing of her Big Ten career. The junior's best dive came on her sixth and final attempt as she scored 57.20 points.
The diver's marks pushed Purdue from eighth to sixth in the standings. Minnesota leads the championships with 200 points, followed by Michigan (193), Indiana (169), Penn State (168) and Wisconsin (147.5).
Swimmers Erica Chandler and Susan Hentschel both held their places during finals. Chandler again finished eighth in the 500 freestyle at 4:55.27 while Hentschel won the consolation final of the 50 free in 23.25.
Both finals times were slower than their preliminary marks. Chandler's time increased from a 4:49.43, while Hentschel's time went up from 23.08. Chandler and Hentschel, along with Lauren Willis and Kimbre Vogel, also swam on the 200 free relay, which finished eighth with a season-best and NCAA provisional cut of 1:33.27. Their time was a season best by .65 seconds.
Despite the slow start, head coach Cathy Wright-Eger says her team is heading into tomorrow with a tremendous amount of confidence.
"If you look at tomorrow's events, it is by far our best day," said Wright-Eger. "We feel that we are going to get better as the meet goes on. We're going to fight for every point."
Friday's events begin at 11 a.m. with the prelims of the 400 individual medley. Also on the schedule are the 100 fly, breast and back and the 200 free, plus 3-meter diving. Swimming and diving live results can be found through ohiostatebuckeyes.com.