Nov. 16, 2012
Friday Results: Prelims | Finals >>> Dive-by-Dive Scores >>> Photo Gallery 
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue swimming and diving teams are in second place behind Louisville as the top team scores were very close after the opening day of action Friday at the Purdue Invitational.
The No. 20 Boiler women trail No. 17 U of L by only 1 ½ points. The No. 25 Purdue men were 21 points behind the No. 23 Cardinals.
Carly Mercer led the way for the Purdue women by winning the 50 freestyle, placing third in the A final of the 200 IM and swimming the leadoff leg on the victorious 200 free relay, teaming up with Lauren Gustafson, Rhiannon Sheets and Lauren Nichols. She posted NCAA provisional qualifying times in each of her individual events.
The Purdue divers performed well on the opening day of the three-day weekend meet. Led by event winners Michelle Cabassol (3-meter) and Layne Rogers (1-meter), the divers accounted for 128 team points Friday. The men had four of the top five finishers in the 1-meter and the women placed three of the top four in the 3-meter.
Danny Tucker was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle to account for the top individual finish among the men's swimmers. He placed second to Louisville sprint specialist Joao De Lucca, who became the first individual to out touch Tucker in an event this season. The Purdue junior also anchored the 200 free and 400 medley relay teams.
Mercer posted the third fastest time (22.75) in program history while winning the A final of the 50 free that featured five Boilermakers. Gustafson, Sheets and Anji Li also won their preliminary heats in the afternoon session to qualify for the A final along with Nichols.
Lyam Dias (third in the 200 IM) and Luke Trimmer (fourth in the 500 free) recorded Purdue season-best times while finishing in the top half of their A finals.
Allie Davis was the runner-up in the A final of the 500 free. Megan Gallagher won the B final of the same event. Like the 50 free, the Purdue women had five swimmers score team points in the 500 free and 200 IM.
Jacie Beagle (C final of 200 IM), Danny Conway (C final of 200 IM), Matt Friede (C final of 50 free), Jacob Robinson (D final of 200 IM) and Megan Roach (D final of 200 IM) also won an evening finals race. Preliminary heat/round winners included Jamie Bissett (1-meter diving), Lizzy Lyon (500 free), Emily McIlrath (200 IM), and Stephen Seliskar (50 free).
The Purdue Invitational continues Saturday with preliminaries at 10 a.m., diving at 1 p.m. and evening finals at 6 p.m.
Team Scores Through Friday's Events
Men
#23 Louisville, 266
#25 Purdue, 245
Utah, 154
Missouri State, 99
Southern Illinois, 82
Cincinnati, 54
#1 Michigan, 37 (Small Representation)
Women
#17 Louisville, 302.5
#20 Purdue, 301
Utah, 128.5
Cincinnati, 65
Missouri State, 63
Southern Illinois, 53
#22 Michigan, 23 (Small Representation)
Purdue Winners & Notables
* = Purdue Season-Best Time/Score
(B) = NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
(Z) = Zone Qualifying Score
Men
50 Free
Danny Tucker, 20.02* (B) - Finished 2nd in A Final (17 Points), Won Heat 7 of Prelims
Chuck Destro, 20.31 - Finished 7th in A Final (12 Points)
Benjamin Ziolkowski, 20.72 (Prelim Time) - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points)
Noah Pashley, 20.87 (Prelim Time) - Finished 6th in B Final (3 Points)
Matt Friede, 20.87 - Won C Final
Stephen Seliskar, 21.51 - Won Heat 1 of Prelims
500 Free
Luke Trimmer, 4:29.15* -- Finished 4th in A Final (15 Points), Won Heat 5 of Prelims
Alec LaMothe, 4:29.29 - Finished 5th in A Final (14 Points)
Jan Petric, 4:29.68 (Prelim Time) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Team Points)
Nate Hopkins, 4:31.87 - Finished 7th in A Final (12 Team Points)
200 IM
Lyam Dias, 1:50.56* -- Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points)
Jacob McGough, 1:52.18 - Finished 5th in B Final (4 Points)
Danny Conway, 1:52.23 - Won C Final
Jacob Robinson, 1:54.78 - Won D Final
200 Free Relay
Ziolkowski, Destro, Pashley & Tucker, 1:19.83* - Finished 2nd (34 Points)
Friede, Stephens, Seliskar & Kiel, 1:23.21 - Won Heat 2
400 Medley Relay
Kiel, Dias, Destro & Tucker, 3:17.66* -- Finished 3rd (32 Points)
1-Meter Diving
Layne Rogers, 349.15 - Won Event (20 Points)
Jamie Bissett, 338.05 (Prelim Score) - Finished 2nd (17 Points), Finished 1st in Prelims
Alec Back, 327.35 - Finished 3rd (16 Points)
Nate Cox, 309.20 (Prelim Score) - Finished 5th (14 Points)
Women
50 Free
Carly Mercer, 22.75* (B) - Won A Final (20 Points), Won Heat 6 of Prelims... Third Fastest in Program History
Lauren Gustafson, 22.89 (B, Prelim Time) - Finished 5th in A Final (14 Points), Won Heat 4 of Prelims
Lauren Nichols, 23.23 (Prelim Time) - Finished 6th in A Final (13 Points)
Rhiannon Sheets, 23.39 - Finished 7th in A Final (12 Points), Won Heat 3 of Prelims
Anji Li, 23.64 - Finished 8th in A Final (11 Points), Won Heat 2 of Prelims
500 Free
Allie Davis, 4:49.07 (Prelim Time) - Finished 2nd in A Final (17 Points), Won Heat 3 of Prelims
Lizzy Lyon, 4:55.39 (Prelim Time) - Finished 7th in A Final, (12 Points) Won Heat 4 of Prelims
Megan Gallagher, 4:49.63 - Won B Final (9 Points)
Caitlin Hamilton, 4:54.68 - Finished 3rd in B Final (6 Points)
Nika Petric, 4:56.74 - Finished 5th in B Final (4 Points)
200 IM
Carly Mercer, 2:01.59* (B) - Finished 3rd in A Final (16 Points)
Francesca Marr, 2:04.45 - Finished 7th in A Final (12 Points)
Alex Todd, 2:04.80 - Finished 8th in A Final (11 Points)
Stephanie Schlobohm, 2:03.90 - Finished 2nd in B Final (7 Points)
Emily McIlrath, 2:05.04 - Finished 4th in B Final (5 Points), Won Heat 4 of Prelims
Amy Katz, 2:06.10 - Finished 6th in B Final (3 Points)
Jacie Beagle, 2:05.07 - Won C Final
Megan Roach, 2:08.96 - Won D Final
200 Free Relay
Mercer, Gustafson, Sheets & Nichols, 1:30.66* - Event Winner (40 Points)
Li, Vogel, Marshall & Fozkos, 1:34.12 - Won Heat 2
400 Medley Relay
Katz, McIlrath, Todd & Gustafson, 3:45.18 -- Finished Third (32 Points)
Beagle, Marr, Sheets & Nichols, 3:43.03* -- Won Heat 2
3-Meter Diving
Michelle Cabassol, 342.40* (Z) - Won Event (20 Points)
Maddie Miskulin, 320.75 (Prelim Score) - Finished 3rd (16 Points)
MacKenzie Tweardy, 297.25 (Z) - Finished 4th (15 Points)