Feb. 21, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue's women's swimming and diving team stands in eighth place with 87 points at the Big Ten Championships following one day of competition. Sophomore diver Ashley Karnes led the Boilermakers with her second-place showing off the 1-meter springboard.
This year's championship meet is taking place at at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
Karnes was one of three Purdue divers to score. The Bloomington, Ind., native finished the championship round with a personal best total of 317.45 points - a 20 point improvement from her prelim score - but it was not enough to top Indiana's Brittany Feldman, who won the title with 320.80 points.
Karnes' championship total is the third-highest score in Boilermaker history behind only Amanda Miller (340.20) and Carrie McCambridge (322.15).
Further down the result list, 2007 NCAA qualifier Emily Wetzel placed eighth with 268.00 points and senior Katie Berg earned the 16th place point with 233.15 points.
The Boilermakers sent two swimmers into the consolation finals of their respective events. Senior Nicole Weatherman qualified 15th but moved up to 11th place in the 500 freestyle, finishing with a lifetime best and NCAA consideration mark of 4:48.72. Weatherman's prelim time was three seconds slower at 4:51.42.
Freshman Allie Smith shaved another second off her personal record in the 200 individual medley, lowering her prelim time of 2:03.07 to 2:02.41 and finished 13th overall. Smith, a native of Green Bay, Wis., has set new freshman records in the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 200 IM this season.
Head coach Cathy Wright-Eger delivered equal praise to both performers.
"Nicole started our night with an outstanding race and it was just inspiring for the rest of the team to see her gutsy performance," she said. "Allie's swim was fantastic and it's great to see someone in their freshman year just keep lowering their personal bests. She came into this meet swimming a 2:04.00 in the 200 IM."
This year's meet featured a bonus heat or 'C' final for the first time and it's for those swimmers who placed anywhere from 17th to 24th in prelims. Senior Shannon Grace took advantage of this second swim in the 200 IM, recording a personal record of 2:04.69.
In the 50 free, freshman Ariel Martin placed 21st in 23.59 and Katie Beck was 23rd in 23.67.
Both Boilermaker relays placed seventh. The 200 free relay of Lisa Butler, Martin, Beck and Leah Henninger - three freshmen and a sophomore - recorded an NCAA provisional mark of 1:32.61, which was three seconds faster than their November shave time at the Purdue Invitational.
In the 400 medley relay, Smith led off with a 100-yard backstroke split of 55.47. This time lowered her lifetime best by .37 seconds and inched her closer to breaking Lisa Dolansky's varsity record of 54.76.
Smith was followed on the relay by seniors Jennifer Lavers and Lauren Hyman and sophomore Henninger, all of whom helped the club post a season best and NCAA provisional cut of 3:44.14 - a four second improvement from November's shave meet.
Wright-Eger said Thursday's promising start should set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
"Everyone's having fun, scrapping for points and getting their personal bests - this is what we've all been training for," she said. "This is probably one of the best first days we've had in some years or since when Lisa Dolansky, Lindsay Lange and Patricia Finnerty were all part of the team."
With 87 points, the Boilermakers are long way from catching Michigan (182) for first place, but they're only eight points behind Indiana for sixth place and one point behind host Ohio State for seventh.
The expectation is for Purdue to finish anywhere from fifth to eighth at this ultra-competitive conference championship meet.
Wright-Eger said tomorrow's plan is to overtake the Buckeyes and find a way to catch the Hoosiers. Indiana, which won the Big Ten title in 2007, lost major points after it was disqualified during the 400 medley relay.
Day two action at the Big Ten Championships resumes tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.