Nov. 17, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Boilermakers posted four runner-up showings through the first five swimming events Friday night at the IU Open Invitational. Purdue was second in both the 200 free and 400 medley relay, as well as the 200 IM and 50 free.
Diving did not fare much better as senior Amanda Miller was the lone Boilermaker to finish among the top eight of a crowded and talented field. Miller placed third with 300.95 points behind IU's Christina Loukas (312.90) and Syracuse's Cassidy Krug (306.75).
"I thought we did a pretty good job on our first day, considering these are not our strongest events," said head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "I thought we competed and battled hard all night but just got touched out in a few events."
Purdue opened the finals session losing out to Louisville in the 200 free relay, 1:33.28 to 1:33.89. Not only did the Boilermaker bunch of Kimbre Vogel, Rachel Sitarz, Katharine Telfer and Susan Hentschel miss the win by fractions of a second, but also the NCAA 'B' cut by just .15 seconds.
Hentschel again was touched out three events later in the 50 free as IU's Leila Vaziri beat her to the wall, 23.50 to 23.69. sitarz and vogel tied for fourth at 23.73, which is a personal record for Sitarz.
Wright-Eger was very impressed with Carlene Takaki's second-place time of 2:04.41 in the 200 IM since it was the senior's first time competing in this event in a championship atmosphere. Louisville's Anna Dischuck was first in 2:04.06 and Boilermaker Jen Merte was third in 2:04.65.
The 20-year head coach also was happy with her 400 medley relays, which captured the second and fourth spots. The 'A' relay of Telfer, Jen Lavers, Takaki and Hentschel completed the course in 3:47.57 and the 'B' finished in 3:52.75. Vogel recorded another p.r. in this event, clocking a leadoff 100 back split of 57.74 for the 'B' relay that also featured Leah Pierce, Christine Inman and Lauren Hyman.
The second day of the IU Open Invitational begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with prelims. Finals kick off at 6 p.m.