Feb. 21, 2009
The Purdue women's swimming and diving team finished sixth with 290 points as the Big Ten Championships concluded Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"We were extremely pleased with the effort of the team," head coach John Klinge said. "The swimmers and divers did a very good job throughout the course of the meet."
Senior Emily Wetzel provided Purdue with its second consecutive conference championship off the 10-meter platform. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native scored a career-high total of 293.20 points and moved to fourth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the event. Sophomore Kara Cook, last season's Big Ten platform champion, scored a season-high 287.75 in the afternoon session and finished eighth in the final.
"This was a great way to finish my senior year," Wetzel said. "I told the girls, 'Let's just have fun.' That was the goal coming in. I had so much fun, and it was just amazing. My mom came all the way from Switzerland to see Big Tens. I looked up (during the awards ceremony) and she was crying so, of course, I started crying. I'm thankful she could be there."
Diving coach Adam Soldati was named Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year after the Boilermakers took two of the three diving titles this season. In addition to Wetzel, who was Purdue's high scorer for the meet, junior Ashley Karnes won the 1-meter championship Thursday night.
Sophomore Allie Smith broke her third school record of the championships and finished 11th in the 200-yard backstroke with her time of 1:57.03. Smith gained the school record at last year's championships with a 1:58.66 swim, and then lowered it again with a 1:57.70 time in Saturday's preliminary round.
Purdue's 400 freestyle relay team added one more school record to the 2009 pile. Ariel Martin, Katie Beck, Lisa Butler and Leah Henninger placed seventh with a time of 3:20.53. The quartet's time eclipses the previous school record of 3:20.55 set in 2005.
Lauren Roth broke her second freshman record in as many days by touching the wall in 2:01.03 and finishing 20th in the finals. Roth, who became the fastest freshman in school history in the 200 freestyle on Friday, bettered Carlene Takaki's 200 butterfly record of 2:01.82 from 2004 in the preliminaries with a 2:01.41 swim.
Freshman Kristen Gilson moved to second on Purdue's all-time performance list and placed 12th in the 200 backstroke with her time of 1:58.10. Junior co-captain Henninger moved to fourth on Purdue's all-time performance list in the 100 freestyle with her time of 50.09 that placed 13th. Fellow co-captain Christine Inman finished 21st in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:01.07 that places her fourth on the school's all-time performance list.
In the afternoon session, the Boilermakers earned 12 more season-best times, highlighted by eight in the 100 freestyle. In that event, Martin touched the wall in 50.49, and Beck completed the race in 50.88 one day after breaking Purdue's 100 butterfly record. Butler stopped the clock in 51.05, while Morgan Lebsack finished in 51.72. Sara Bogert was the next Boilermaker in 52.77 and was followed by Jenna York in 53.37. Jessica Davis and Allison Frisbie finished the race in 53.51 and 54.34, respectively.
Purdue had three of its season-best times come from the 200 breaststroke. In that event, Sarah Dunleavy touched the wall in 2:22.33, while Christina Jacobs finished in 2:25.36 and Susanne Fawcett stopped the clock in 2:27.90. Elizabeth Holmes swam to a season-best time of 2:08.94 in the 200 backstroke.
Indiana won the team title with 823 points. Defending champion Minnesota took second with 665, and Penn State finished third with 429. Host Michigan scored 414 points to finish fourth, and Wisconsin rounded out the top five with 405.
Throughout the four days of this year's championships, Purdue broke 12 school records and three more freshman records. In addition to the records, the Boilermakers earned 50 season-best marks between the pool and diving well. A select group of Purdue swimmers returns to the water at the Boiler-Make-It Last Chance Meet on March 1 inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.