Feb. 19, 2009
The Purdue women's swimming and diving team earned one conference title and broke four school records Thursday at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"We had another good session and finished off a great day," head coach John Klinge said. "Our diving really led the way for us. In the pool, Allie Smith and Ariel Martin both set new school records today. Congratulations to Ashley Karnes, the Big Ten champion in the 1-meter springboard diving."
Karnes dove to her first conference title and gave Purdue its second in as many years from the diving group. The junior from Bloomington, Ind., who finished second off the 1-meter board at last year's championships, scored 341.55 points to top the field of 16 divers and break Amanda Miller's school record of 340.20 set in 2007. Coupled with Kara Cook's platform title earned on the final day last season, Purdue has claimed the past two diving championships awarded by the Big Ten.
"I wasn't coming in here expecting to win," Karnes said. "I wanted to dive how I know I can, and I did that. I'm really happy I dove as well as I did. You always want to do your best, but it doesn't always turn out that way."
Martin broke the school record in the 50-yard freestyle in both the preliminary and final rounds. The sophomore from Jeffersonville, Ind., swam 22.78 in the afternoon session before clocking in at 22.72 to finish sixth in the finals. Both times eclipse Christine Leupold's previous school record of 22.83 and the NCAA provisional standard of 22.80. In addition to her school-record performance, Martin swam on Purdue's 200 freestyle relay that also finished sixth. Lisa Butler, Martin, Katie Beck and Leah Henninger beat the NCAA provisional standard by touching the wall in 1:31.15.
Smith took down the school record and met the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard in the 200 IM with her 1:59.94 time in the preliminary round. The sophomore from Green Bay, Wis., bettered the previous school record of 2:01.46 set in 2002 by Jennifer Bean. The record is Smith's second in her young career after she lowered the school record in the 200 backstroke at last season's conference championships. Smith finished 14th in the 200 IM finals with her time of 2:00.53.
Freshman Casey Matthews finished third from the 1-meter board in her first conference championship competition. The Getzville, N.Y., native moved to fourth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event by totaling a personal-best score of 319.90. Senior Emily Wetzel added more points to Purdue's haul with her ninth-place, 272.95 showing.
In addition to the finals performances, the Boilermakers had 13 swimmers touch the wall in season-best times during the preliminary round. The best event of the day for season-best times was the 50 freestyle, where Purdue earned six season-best times in addition to Martin's school records. Butler and Henninger finished in 23.44 and 23.46, respectively, while sophomore Morgan Lebsack stopped the clock in 23.81 and freshman Sara Bogert clocked a time of 23.87. Sophomore Jessica Davis finished the race in 24.08, and freshman Allison Frisbie completed the sprint in 25.26.
Purdue earned four season-best times in the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle. Freshmen Kristen Gilson and Amy Gutwein touched the wall in 4:52.53 and 4:54.09, respectively. Senior Elyse Dudar clocked a time of 5:00.68, and sophomore Jessica Skiba finished in 5:02.91. In addition to Smith, three other Boilermakers swam season-best times in the 200 IM. Freshman Sarah Dunleavy finished the race in 2:06.39, while fellow freshmen Susanne Fawcett and Christina Jacobs touched the wall in 2:12.42 and 2:13.23, respectively.
The Boilermakers are fifth with 135 points following the second day of competition. Indiana leads the team race with 250 points. The Big Ten Championships continue Friday inside Canham Natatorium with the 400 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 3-meter diving. Live results can be found at purduesports.com.