March 20, 2009
The Purdue women's swimming and diving team added two more All-American certificates to the pile Friday during the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships inside Texas A&M's Student Recreation Center Natatorium in College Station, Texas.
Junior Ashley Karnes advanced to her second final in as many days to earn All-America honors. The Bloomington, Ind., native put 354.30 points on the board during her final 3-meter list this season and finished seventh. In the preliminary round, Karnes scored 331.10 to grab the fourth qualifying position for the finals. Purdue's school record holder from the 1- and 3-meter boards finished fourth Thursday night in the 1-meter competition to win the first All-America acclaim of her career.
Senior Emily Wetzel became an honorable mention All-American for the second straight day. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native finished seventh in the consolation final and 15th overall off the 3-meter after scoring 297.10 points during the final round and 313.50 during the preliminaries. Wetzel, who has a career-high score of 318.75 that ranks seventh on Purdue's all-time performance list in the 3-meter, moved to sixth on the school's all-time performance list off the 1-meter while finishing 11th in the event Thursday.
Freshman Casey Matthews finished 19th during Friday's preliminary round. The Getzville, N.Y., native scored 293.45 points during her six-dive list. Matthews, who ranks in the top-10 on Purdue's all-time performance list from all three boards, earned honorable mention All-America honors from the 1-meter Thursday with her 12th-place finish.
"Ashley put herself in a small group of the elites to make All-American on both boards," head diving coach Adam Soldati said. "She has earned it. Her focus today was on the team and not herself, and that is even more rewarding for me. Emily ended her career on 3-meter with style. It was a great day for Emily, and we are so proud of her. Casey had an up and down day, but when she was good she was really good. We need to work on a bit more consistency, and she will be a player at the top."
Purdue sits 16th with 40 points after two days of competition. The Boilermakers surpassed last season's point total of 17 during the first day, and now look to make the 2009 championships a truly historic meet. Purdue's highest point total at any NCAA Championships is 59, a mark put up in 2005 inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The school's highest point total at a national championship meet not contested at home is 47 from the 2007 meet held in Minneapolis, Minn. The team's highest finish of 17th was recorded in 2005, and the highest finish away from West Lafayette was a tie for 20th in 2007.
The Boilermakers also are one All-America honor away from breaking the school record for the most recognitions in a single championships. The 2009 trio already has matched the current record of five put together at both the 2005 and 2006 championships.
The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday. The Boilermakers have Matthews and Wetzel, this year's Big Ten platform champion, entered in the platform diving competition. The preliminaries begin at 2:30 p.m. ET, and the finals are tentatively scheduled for a 9 p.m. start. Live results, as well as live video courtesy of Swimming World Magazine and ESPN360.com, can be found at purduesports.com.