Purdue
New women’s program records established by Allie Davis in the 200 freestyle and Emily Fogle in the 100 breaststroke highlighted day two of Purdue swimming and diving’s Purdue Invitational on Saturday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The Purdue men and women have each accumulated over 600 points on the weekend to maintain sizable advantages in the team scoring among the eight-university field.
The Purdue men swept the relay events for the second day in a row. They also received individual victories in A finals from Marat Amaltdinov (100 breast), Filip Bujoczek (200 free), Joe Cifelli (3-meter diving) and Stephen Seliskar (100 back) Saturday.
Davis eclipsed the program record in the 200 free in both the morning prelims and evening finals. She won her prelim heat with a time of 1:44.93 to take down Rhiannon Sheets’ Purdue record (1:45.16) from the 2015 Big Ten Championships, becoming the first Boilermaker ever to post a sub-1:45 time in the event. Davis later won the A final in the evening session with a time of 1:44.54 that stands as the new record. The senior also eclipsed the program record in the 500 free prelims Friday, but teammate Kaersten Meitz regained possession of the benchmark two heats later.
Fogle eclipsed her own record in the 100 breast with a time of 58.88 in the morning prelims. Her benchmark in the event (59.34) had stood since the 2012 Purdue Invitational, which was the last meet in which she competed for the Boilermakers before injuries sidelined her until the start of the 2014-15 campaign. It marked the third time in her career overall that Fogle established a new program record at the Purdue Invitational.
Fogle’s victory in the A final of the 100 breast headlined an event in which the Purdue women had four of the eight swimmers in the race. Nika Karlina Petric won the A final of the 400 IM (4:14.02) with a time that was just six hundredths of a second off her program record from the 2015 Big Ten Championships. Freshman Alex Clarke accounted for the fourth-fastest time (4:18.58) in the Purdue record book in the 400 IM as well.
Led by Seliskar as the A final winner, Boilermakers made up five of the eight swimmers in the A final of the men’s 100 back. Purdue also had eight of the top 13 qualifiers in the prelims of the event.
Cifelli posted the fourth-best score (439.70) in program history while finishing off the sweep of the springboard diving events with a victory on 3-meter Saturday. Max Showalter also had a personal-record score (411.70) while finishing as the diving runner-up again.
The Purdue women registered the sixth-fastest times in program history in both the 200 medley (1:40.14) and 800 free (7:09.59) relays. The 800 team cruised to victory to close the night. Grace Hernandez teamed up with Petric, Davis and Meitz on that team while also anchoring the 200 medley quartet that featured Hannah Manger, Fogle and Meagan Lim. Individually, Hernandez finished third behind Davis and Meitz in the A final of the 200 free as the Boilermakers had the top three finishers and five of the eight in the championship race overall.
The Purdue men also posted their sixth-fastest time (1:27.97) in program history in the 200 medley relay. Seliskar, Amaltdinov, Austin Flager and Adam Johnston joined forces for that event. After winning the 200 free individually earlier in the night, Bujoczek helped rally the 800 free relay team to victory as its anchor, teaming up with Josh Brooks, Josh Ehrman and Danny Conway.
Amaltdinov lowered his NCAA provisional-qualifying time to 53.87 in the 100 breast, improving on his sixth-fastest time in program history. And before contributing to the 800 free relay win, Conway was the runner-up in the A final of the 400 IM.
Emmy Rawson (100 fly) and Breanna Robinson (100 back) won B finals for the Purdue women. Hudson Bursch took the C final of the men’s 400 IM and Jake Thomas won a pair of prelim heats (100 back, 400 IM) in the morning session.
The Purdue Invitational concludes Sunday with prelims at 10 a.m., platform diving at noon and finals at 4 p.m.
Team Scores
Women
No. 24 Purdue, 681
Notre Dame, 495
Wyoming, 316
Florida International, 240
Missouri State, 183
Air Force, 181
Southern Illinois, 148
San Diego, 134
Men
Purdue, 677.5
Wyoming, 438.5
Notre Dame, 374.5
Missouri State, 346
Southern Illinois, 271.5
Notre Dame Men
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team continued to achieve top times Saturday at the Purdue Invitational, clocking several B-cuts. Justin Plaschka earned the team’s sole, first-place victory, tying for first in the 100 fly.
“Today, we were better all around,” states head coach Matt Tallman. “Obviously, Justin [Plaschka] winning the 100 fly was great for us. In the same race, Matt Grauslys also did a great job. We were very solid across the board; we have traditionally swam a dual meet in the middle of tough training at this point of the season, but this season, we decided to do an invitational under the same conditions instead.
“I think the guys are putting together a good meet,” he continues, “and while we still have two sessions left tomorrow, the plan is to continue to improve some more.”
The 200 medley relay A-team lineup of Bogac Ayhan, Zachary Stump, Plaschka and Daniel Speers started the evening finals with their second place finish (1:28.91). Other top individual performers included Grauslys (100 fly, fourth, 48.30), Trent Jackson (200 free, fourth, 1:38.34) and freshman Tabahn Afrik (200 free, fifth, 1:39.34). Rob Whitacre finished third in the 100 back (49.23), while the 800 free relay A-team of Jackson, Afrik, Reed Fujan and Kevin Bradley also earned third-place points (6:39.65).
In diving, Zane Parker finished sixth in the men’s 3-meter event (279.40), while James Lichtenstein finished eighth (247.50). Platform diving is the final event for both entrants tomorrow evening.
Notre Dame Women
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team maintained their second-place standing on day two of the Purdue Invitational. With several B-cut times posted throughout the day, the A-team lineup of Catherine Mulquin, Danielle Margheret, Catherine Galletti and Sofia Revilak started the evening finals on a high note, clinching first with their 1:39.50 time.
“Our team is working hard to develop their own identity; tonight, we came back and put some times up that are among the top in the Atlantic Coast Conference,” head coach Mike Litzinger says. “We are feeling good at this stage, but need to continue to work hard.
The third day of a championship-style meet is always a challenge, both physically and mentally,” he continues, “but we are using this as a rehearsal for another big meet in February. We are consistently challenging ourselves to compete, which is what we need to do at this point in the season. The highlight of today was our 200 medley relay; those were excellent swims. Cat Galletti’s morning swim in the 100 fly was great, as was Danielle [Margheret]’s 100 breast. And [Catherine] Mulquin’s 100 back just keeps getting better. Today was a good day for us.”
In addition to the relay team’s first place victory, Galletti and Mulquin both posted individual first place titles. After touching in at 53.14 in the morning prelims, Galletti earned her second B cut in the 100 fly by winning the race in the evening (53.46). Mulquin also earned a B cut in the morning session in the 100 back (54.13) and went on to win the event with her 54.49 showing in the evening session.
Other top finishers for the Irish included Nicole Smith (third in 400 IM, 4:18.28, and fourth in 100 fly, 53.92) and Revilak (second in 100 fly, 53.61). Margheret swam a B-cut time in the 100 breast (1:01.85), placing third. Alice Treuth also had a third-lace showing Saturday evening, clocking in at 55.16 in the 100 back.
In diving, Lindsey Streepey earned a third-place score of 302.05 in the 1-meter event, while Annie Crea placed eighth (246.10). The diving competition concludes tomorrow with the evening platform event.
Air Force Women
Sophomore Maria Schroeder set a new school record and Genevieve Miller posted another top 10 time for the Air Force women’s swimming and diving team on day two of the Purdue Invitational, Saturday, Nov. 21, in West Lafayette, Ind. Air Force is in sixth place with 181 points. Purdue leads with 681 points while Notre Dame is second (495), Wyoming is third (316), Florida International is fourth (240) and Missouri State is fifth (183). Southern Illinois is seventh (148) and the University of San Diego is eight (134).
Schroeder swam a time of 54.43 to break her own school record set last season. Schroeder’s time was an NCAA “B” cut and placed her sixth in the “A” final at the Invitational.
The day started out with Genevieve Miller in an exhibition swim in the 400 IM and the junior posted a 4:25.71, the second fastest time in school history and an NCAA “B” cut. Later in the meet, Miller placed fifth in the 200 free (1:49.03) and Sara Menke was ninth (1:49.44).
In the 800 free relay, the team of Miller, Schroeder, Jinan Andrews and Menke was fourth 7:24.49.
In the 200 medley relay, the team of Elise Hart, Leah Weber, Schroeder and Brianna Mount finished fifth with a time of 1:43.56.
Missouri State
The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams made strong moves in the team standings during the second day of the Purdue Invitational at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center on Saturday, Nov. 21.
The Bears’ women’s team moved up a spot to fifth out eight teams with 183 points, passing Air Force which has 181 points. Leading the women’s side is host Purdue (681), followed by Notre Dame (495), Wyoming (316) and Florida International (240). The MSU men’s team maintained its fourth-place position with 346 points, but only trails third-place Notre Dame by 28.50. Leading the men’s portion of the event is Purdue (677.50) and Wyoming (438.50), while Southern Illinois (271.50) sits in fifth.
One of the top highlights for the Bears Saturday was Dora Kiss’s school record-breaking 100-yard butterfly swims.
The senior topped the record in morning preliminary races with a 55.20 finish, breaking a mark that was held by current MSU assistant coach Chelsea Dirks-Ham, whose time of 55.34 had lasted since 2009. Kiss advanced to the A-final where she was able to improve that time to 54.82, good for seventh place in the event.
Missouri State continued to have solid showings throughout finals appearances, including a second school record that was broken.
Freshman Josie Pearson achieved the first ‘B’ cut of her collegiate career in the 400 individual medley, taking runner-up in the A-final with a lifetime best and new school-record time of 4:18.09. Rebecca Amparano also made the A-final for the Bears and took seventh after her top time of the year in prelims (4:22.33). Both Briana Horozewski and CeCe Etter won their respective finals heats, as Horozewski touched in at 4:24.62 in the B-final and Etter came in at 4:28.39 in the C-final.
Two men’s swimmers also made the 400 IM A-final for MSU. Freshman Bryce Blattner took seventh behind a personal mark of 3:56.72, while Uvis Kalnins placed eighth after his top time of the year in the prelims (3:56.58). Three more Bears – Christopher Heye (3:59.22), Ethan Bresette (3:59.86) and Nicholas Theunissen (4:00.35) – qualified for the B-final while Canaan Cambell and Brandon Weissman completed season-best times.
The MSU women’s swim team had seven more student-athletes – Sydney Zupan, Emma Wall, Ibby Simcox, Hanna Flanagan, Emily Chesser, Lauren Williams and Kaylee Larson – earn 2015-16 top marks in the 100 fly. On the men’s side, Artur Osvath notched a ‘B’ cut behind a third-place A-final finish (48.27).
The Bears’ men’s team ended up scoring four different athletes in the 200 freestyle, as Kacper Cwiek led the way by touching the wall in a time of 1:38.33 for third place. Minki Kang followed with the top finish in the B-final (1:41.09), Will Brand placed 12th (1:41.74) and Michael Mollak earned 13th (1:41.78). Kiss, along with Shawna Elsey, Emma Metz, Moriah Moore, Althea Felton and Hope Ernhart, finished with season-best times in the 200 free prelims.
MSU’s Lauren Pavel finished a team-high 12th (1:03.62) in the 100 breaststroke to lead the women’s team, with Anna Bump also making a B-final appearance by taking 15th (1:04.19).
Kalnins led a host of Bears that finished atop the 100 breast on the men’s side. Kalnins (54.49), Osvath (54.61) and Isaac Springer (54.88) all earned NCAA consideration times and finished 3-4-5 in the A-final. Theunissen (56.15) and Uldis Tazans (56.08) earned the top two places in the B-final while Christopher Heye took 18th overall (57.79).
In the remaining individual event of the day, Zupan led the MSU women’s squad with a 12th-place finish behind a time of 55.78 in the 100 backstroke. Chesser (57.92), Quincy Howell (58.13), Loretta Stelnicki (57.68), Horozewski (58.30), Etter (58.37), Brianna McCullough (58.92) and Flanagan (59.35) all set season-best times in event during the day. The MSU men’s team finished the event in similar fashion as Jack Snow, Bryce Blattner, Preston Selby Brenden Bolman and Will Frisbie all notched 2015-16 top times.
The Missouri State men’s and women’s teams each finished with strong performances in their relay appearances.
The Bears’ women’s squad took sixth in both the 200 medley relay (1:45.04) behind Zupan, Pavel, Pearson and Ernhart, as well as the 800 free relay behind Kiss, Stelnicki, Zupan and Amparano.
While the men took fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:29.65) with the squad of Blattner, Springer, Osvath and Kalnins, the Bears’ 800 free relay team of Cwiek, Kalnins, Mollak and Brand finished runner-up with a time of 6:38.95.
