ROSEMONT, Ill. – Headlined by a sweep of the Diver of the Week awards, Purdue Swimming & Diving claimed a trio of Big Ten weekly honors after winning 30 of the 33 events contested during the final home weekend at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
Daryn Wright and Tyler Wills were recognized as the Big Ten Divers of the Week. Jānis Dzirkalis earned his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor of the campaign.
At Saturday’s Senior Dual vs. Illinois, Wright swept the springboard diving events for the fourth time this season, posting a lifetime best list score of 374.48 of 3-meter. Her winning score of 336.45 on 1-meter was also a team season best. The senior improved on her seventh best score in team history on 3-meter.
At the men’s final home dual Friday vs. Southern Illinois, Wills was also victorious on 3-meter with a lifetime best – moving into 10th place in team history with a list score of 426.90 (a team season best). The sophomore registered a personal season best total of 388.50 on 1-meter as Purdue had the top six finishers in the event led by Max Miller.
Dzirkalis swept the freestyle sprints at a meet for the fourth time this season, teaming with Nathaniel Thomas for a 1-2 finish in both the 50 and 100 free. He also helped the Boilermakers sweep the relays – the 200 free and 400 medley. The Latvian national leads Purdue with eight individual event victories while also contributing to a team-high 10 relay winners this season.
Dzirkalis also won the 50 free at the men’s intrasquad meet Saturday on Senior Day.
BIG TEN WEEKLY NOTABLES
• Wright claimed her third Big Ten Diver of the Week honor of the season and 10th career, the latter total extending her program record for the Purdue women. Across the conference, she’s the women’s first three-time Diver of the Week this season.
• Wright joined elite company among women’s divers to earn at least 10 career Big Ten Diver of the Week honors. The short list also includes Maggie Keefer (14, Minnesota), Shelly Zhou (14, Minnesota) and Christina Loukas (11, Indiana).
• Dzirkalis joined Michigan’s Luka Mladenovic as men’s swimmers to be three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honorees this season. Dzirkalis is Purdue’s first swimmer to be a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week recipient, joining divers Layne Rogers (2012-13), Steele Johnson (2014-15) and Joe Cifelli (2015-16) as Boilermakers to achieve the feat since the first-year honor was added to the league’s weekly awards program in 2011-12.
• Wills earned his first career Big Ten Diver of the Week honor.
• Between the men and the women, the Boilermakers have earned 13 Big Ten weekly honors this season. That matches last season’s total as the most since the 2015-16 school year (19).
Event Wins at Home Finales Lead to Big Ten Weekly Honors
Boilermakers sweep Big Ten Diver of the Week awards & Dzirkalis earns his third Freshman of the Week honor.