Feb. 23, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Overall, it wasn't a bad Big Ten Championships for the Purdue women's swimming and diving team. It fact, it was quite promising.
This program, which replaced nine seniors from last year with nine freshman, scored just 18 fewer points at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion this weekend in earning a seventh-place total of 284 points. The year prior, the Boilermakers finished just one point ahead of Northwestern for sixth-place.
Purdue received a complete team effort. However, most of the praise should be reserved for a diving unit that totaled 113 points.
Sophomore Ashley Karnes succeeded in the springboard challenges as expected. She recorded lifetime best totals on 1-meter (317.45) and 3-meter (335.00) to finish second and third, respectively, which earned her Purdue's high-point award with 33 points.
But what wasn't expected was freshman Kara Cook moving up from an eighth-place preliminary score of 248.60 to win the conference platform title with 289.00 points. The Woodlands, Texas, native edged Ohio State rookie Kristen Asman for first place by a mere .85 points.
Cook was named to the All-Big Ten first team as a result of her victory and is Purdue's third conference champion on platform over the last five years. Purdue alumna Carrie McCambridge won platform titles in 2004 and 2006.
For her runner-up showing on 1-meter, Karnes was named to the All-Big Ten second team.
Freshman Allie Smith didn't win any events, but she did make her mark in the Purdue record book Saturday night by breaking Lisa Dolansky's varsity record in the 200 backstroke. Smith swam a 1:58.73 in prelims to surpass Dolansky's 2003 record of 1:59.43, then lowered her mark to a 1:58.66 to finish 11th in finals.
Smith lowered her freshman records in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley to 55.11 and 2:02.41 earlier this weekend. Both those marks rank second on Purdue's all-time top performance lists. Dolansky still holds the 100 back record at 54.76 and Jennifer Bean claims the 200 IM varsity record at 2:01.46.
Head coach Cathy Wright-Eger could not be happier with Smith's racing abilities.
"Allie is just unbelievable," she said. "Not only did she score in her three individual events, but on the relays as well. She managed to swim faster with every race even at night, and that has to be tough for any freshman to accomplish."
Senior Nicole Weatherman began the finals session with an eighth-place and personal best time of 16:34.64 in the 1650 freestyle, which ranks as the third-fastest time in Boilermaker history behind only Marisa Watts (16:26.31) and Susan Wolfle (16:33.63). Watts is the older sister of current Boilermakers Tim and Carolyn Watts.
Weatherman's previous best in the mile was about nine seconds slower at 16:43.33.
Purdue registered its second top-eight showing of the day in the 200 breaststroke as senior Jennifer Lavers posted a 2:16.15 in prelims and a 2:17.20 in finals. Lavers, a native of Katy, Texas, should graduate holding the 200 breast varsity record of 2:15.83, which she recorded in 2006. She is currently second to Lindsay Lange (1:00.42) in the 100 breast rankings with a time of 1:03.00.
Senior Shannon Grace also fared well in the 200 breaststroke, lowering her personal best from a 2:17.02 to an 11th place finals time of 2:16.20.
Lavers and Grace scored in both breaststroke races, and senior Lauren Hyman accomplished the same through the butterfly events. Hyman, who placed 11th last night in the 100 fly, earned the 16th-place point in the 200 fly with a personal record of 2:02.29.
Sophomore Leah Henninger just missed scoring in the 100 free despite posting a 50.97 to finish 17th in prelims. She did go on, however, to help Purdue place eighth in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:24.04. Henninger led off the relay with a lifetime best 100-yard split of 50.94 and was followed by Lisa Butler (50.62), Ariel Martin (51.48) and Grace (51.00).
"Leah has to be very motivated by her results from this weekend," said Wright-Eger. "She went out there and recorded personal best after personal best and scored on four relays as well."
Minnesota won the Big Ten title with 660.5 points, which gave the conference its third different champion in as many years. The Golden Gophers last won a conference crown in 2000.
Michigan finished a distant second with 609 points and last year's champion Indiana placed third with 513 points. Penn State and Northwestern rounded out the top five - a place where Wright-Eger wants to see Purdue get back to.
"Seventh place is never the goal ... but I'm really proud of this team," she said. "They've fought hard all year, had to battle through a lot of situations they couldn't control, and faced a demanding schedule the forced them to focus on themselves and always do their best.
"It didn't look good for us coming into this meet. We looked to people to step up for the first time in their careers and we weren't always sure how they were going to react. But now these freshman know what it takes to compete at this level and I think this team has a lot of potential to keep getting better."
Purdue swimmers totaled 17 NCAA provisional cuts this weekend, including ones on the 200 and 400 free relays and the 400 medley relay, but none of them have been guaranteed a spot at next month's national championships.
The Boilermakers' final opportunity to lower their season bests will take place on the weekend of March 1 and 2 as Purdue plays host to its annual Boiler-Make-It meet. Prelims for this two-day last-chance event start at 11 a.m. and finals commence at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
First Team All-Big TenIndiana‎- Sophomore Brittney Feldman‎‎- Sophomore Kate Zubkova‎‎- Junior Sarah Stockwell‎‎- Sophomore Donna Smailis‎‎- Sophomore Presley Bard‎
Michigan‎-Junior Emily Brunemann‎- Senior Melissa Jaeger‎‎- Sophomore Margaret Kelly‎‎- Junior Hannah Smith‎- Senior Justine Mueller‎
Minnesota‎- Senior Roxane Akradi‎‎- Freshman Jillian Tyler‎‎- Freshman Megan Braun‎‎- Junior Stacy Busack‎‎- Junior Jenny Shaughnessy‎‎- Junior Meredith McCarthy‎‎- Junior Yuen Kobayashi‎‎- Junior Christine Jennings‎
Northwestern‎- Senior Andrea Hupman‎
Purdue‎- Freshman Kara Cook‎
Wisconsin‎- Senior Hannah McClurg‎‎- Senior Jackie Vavrek‎‎- Freshman Maggie Meyer‎‎- Freshman Kelsey Gergen ‎
Second Team All-Big Ten
Indiana‎- Freshman Amanda Smith‎‎- Junior Allison Kay‎
Michigan‎- Junior Payton Johnson
Purdue‎- Sophomore Ashley Karnes‎
Wisconsin‎- Sophomore Rosie Morahan‎‎- Junior Christine Zwiegers‎‎- Sophomore Gabby Maddalena‎‎- Junior Jen Ilescas‎
Penn State‎- Junior Kelly Nelson‎‎- Sophomore Daphne Skelos‎- Junior Kelly Nelson‎
Ohio State‎- Freshman Bianca Alvarez‎‎- Freshman Kristen Asman‎
High Point ScorersIllinois - Marissa Clapp‎Indiana - Kate Zubkova‎Iowa - Katarina Tour‎Michigan - Margaret Kelly‎Michigan State - Danielle Williams‎Minnesota - Jillian Tyler‎Northwestern - Andrea Hupman‎Ohio State - Kristen Asman‎Penn State - Kelly Nelson‎Purdue - Ashley Karnes‎Wisconsin - Hannah McClurg‎
Diver of the Year: Brittany Feldman - Indiana‎Diver of the Championship: Brittany Feldman - Indiana‎Diving Coach of the Year: Chris Bergere - Michigan‎Freshman of the Year: Jillian Tyler - Minnesota‎Swimmer of the Championship: Andrea Hupman - Northwestern‎Swimmer of the Year: Emily Brunemann - Michigan ‎Swimming Coach of the Year: Jimmy Tierney - Northwestern‎