MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Jordan Rzepka staged a furious rally with a combined score of 181 over the final two rounds to win bronze in 3-meter diving, highlighting Friday at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue Men's Swimming & Diving.
Brady Samuels broke his own record in the 100 butterfly for the second time this season, qualifying for his seventh career A final at Big Tens with a time of 45.10 in the prelim. He took sixth in the final.
Evan Mackesy eclipsed the team's freshman record in the 400 IM that had stood since 2014 while moving into second place in program history with a time of 3:45.72. Like Samuels, it was an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut). Mackesy placed fourth in the B final for a 12th-place overall finish.
Rzepka needed an 80-point dive in the final round of the prelim just to make the championship final. He saved his two best dives for the final two rounds, stacking up big scores of 85.5 and 95.5 to surge into third place and nearly win silver. Just 4.8 points separated first and fourth place. Rzepka's list score of 422.55 was a 44-point improvement from the prelim.
Rzepka won his fifth career medal at Big Tens and third on 3-meter. He moved into sole possession of third place for Big Ten medals won by Purdue Divers.
Purdue had their three freshmen qualify for the 3-meter consolation final. Zach Welsh won the consol after improving on his prelim score by 40 points, finishing top 10 on both springboards in his debut at Big Tens. Platform specialists Kaden Springfield and Tyler Wills finished third and fifth in the consolation final.
Maxwell Blume and Raymond Whittaker posted both lifetime bests while scoring in the C final of the 100 breaststroke. In program history, Blume (53.36) moved into ninth place and Whittaker (53.41) 10th place. Both marks were B Cuts.
Freshman Walker Mattice posted the 12th-fastest time in the team record book while scoring in the C final of the 200 free.
Purdue had three scorers in the C final of the 100 backstroke – Idris Muhammad, Blake Rowe and Lance Lesage. Muhammad and Lesage scored as seniors, Rowe as a freshman.
Senior Luke Fortner was recognized before Friday night's finals session as the Boilermakers' Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree. In the prelims, Fortner posted a lifetime best of 53.90 in the 100 breast to move into 15th place in team history.
The Big Ten Championships conclude Saturday with swimming prelims at 11 a.m. ET, diving prelims at 1 p.m. ET and the finals session at 6 p.m. ET.
FRIDAY TEAM SCORES
1.) #2 Indiana 1067
2.) #10 Michigan 784.5
3.) #13 Ohio State 731
4.) #16 USC 588
5.) #24 Minnesota 512.5
6.) Wisconsin 498
7.) Northwestern 473
8.) Purdue 406.5
9.) Penn State 372.5
Brady Samuels broke his own record in the 100 butterfly for the second time this season, qualifying for his seventh career A final at Big Tens with a time of 45.10 in the prelim. He took sixth in the final.
Evan Mackesy eclipsed the team's freshman record in the 400 IM that had stood since 2014 while moving into second place in program history with a time of 3:45.72. Like Samuels, it was an NCAA provisional qualifying time (B Cut). Mackesy placed fourth in the B final for a 12th-place overall finish.
Rzepka needed an 80-point dive in the final round of the prelim just to make the championship final. He saved his two best dives for the final two rounds, stacking up big scores of 85.5 and 95.5 to surge into third place and nearly win silver. Just 4.8 points separated first and fourth place. Rzepka's list score of 422.55 was a 44-point improvement from the prelim.
Rzepka won his fifth career medal at Big Tens and third on 3-meter. He moved into sole possession of third place for Big Ten medals won by Purdue Divers.
Purdue had their three freshmen qualify for the 3-meter consolation final. Zach Welsh won the consol after improving on his prelim score by 40 points, finishing top 10 on both springboards in his debut at Big Tens. Platform specialists Kaden Springfield and Tyler Wills finished third and fifth in the consolation final.
Maxwell Blume and Raymond Whittaker posted both lifetime bests while scoring in the C final of the 100 breaststroke. In program history, Blume (53.36) moved into ninth place and Whittaker (53.41) 10th place. Both marks were B Cuts.
Freshman Walker Mattice posted the 12th-fastest time in the team record book while scoring in the C final of the 200 free.
Purdue had three scorers in the C final of the 100 backstroke – Idris Muhammad, Blake Rowe and Lance Lesage. Muhammad and Lesage scored as seniors, Rowe as a freshman.
Senior Luke Fortner was recognized before Friday night's finals session as the Boilermakers' Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree. In the prelims, Fortner posted a lifetime best of 53.90 in the 100 breast to move into 15th place in team history.
The Big Ten Championships conclude Saturday with swimming prelims at 11 a.m. ET, diving prelims at 1 p.m. ET and the finals session at 6 p.m. ET.
FRIDAY TEAM SCORES
1.) #2 Indiana 1067
2.) #10 Michigan 784.5
3.) #13 Ohio State 731
4.) #16 USC 588
5.) #24 Minnesota 512.5
6.) Wisconsin 498
7.) Northwestern 473
8.) Purdue 406.5
9.) Penn State 372.5