Feb. 1, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's women's swimming and diving team leads one dual but trails another following Friday's races at the two-day Big Ten Quadrangular.
The Boilermakers lead Illinois 142-40. However, No. 20 Wisconsin leads Purdue by 42 points, 114-72.
No. 9 Minnesota missed tonight's races due to travel problems brought on by inclement weather. The Golden Gophers are expected to compete Saturday.
A majority of Purdue's points came from the diving well as Ashley Karnes won both the 1- and 3-meter springboard titles, extending her year-long winning streak to nine.
Karnes, who has not lost a springboard competition since the start of 2008, totaled 281.35 points off 1-meter and 321.30 points off 3-meter.
Kara Cook and Emily Wetzel were second and third to Karnes on 1-meter. Emily Grisemer collected a NCAA zone-qualfying score of 281.70 points in finishing as the runner-up on 3-meter, while Cook and Katie Berg placed third and fourth.
Incredibly, all six of Purdue's divers have qualified for the NCAA Diving Zone meet.
Allie Smith provided excitment from the swimming pool, knocking off a pair of freshman records.
Smith's third-place and NCAA provisional cut of 2:00.07 in the 200 back erased Katie Lallande's previous record of 2:01.17, which had been standing since 1994.
The Green Bay, Wis., also eclipsed Jenae Gill's three-year old mark of 55.85 in the 100 back, posting another provisional cut of 55.84 leading off the 400 medley relay.
Smith began her night recording a personal and season best 2:04.87 in the 200 individual medley, which was good for second place to UW's Candice Peak.
Senior Nicole Weatherman finished second in the 500 free with an NCAA consideration time of 4:53.93.
"I thought we competed really tough out there tonight and had a handful of freshman records broken, plus season and personal bests," said head coach Cathy Wright-Eger. "It's exciting to see what we've been working on in practice also take place in the pool on race days."
The Boilermakers, Badgers, Illini and Golden Gophers resume competition Saturday at noon. Admission is always free for regular season meets at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.