The eighth-ranked Minnesota men’s swimming and diving team opened a lead over Purdue and Wisconsin after the first evening of competition in Big Ten Triple Duals action at West Lafayette, Ind. Minnesota leads No. 12 Purdue 96-90 and Wisconsin 129-57. The meet concludes tomorrow at noon.

The Gophers won four events this evening including both relays and individual victories by junior Colin Lee-To and sophomore Ray Betuzzi.

The Gophers kicked off the swimming competition with a close win in the 200 freestyle relay. The Gophers team of Lee-To, Jason Timmer, Mike Woodson and Michael Richards clocked a winning time of 1:21.05, edging Purdue’s time of 1:21.33. Woodson’s strong third leg time of 19.90 proved to be the difference in the race. Minnesota’s B team of Curt Carlson, Tyler Schmidt, Steve Miller and Matt Engel was third in 1:22.18.

In the 200 individual medley, Purdue’s Romain Maire won in 1:50.20 while Wisconsin’s Scott Rice took second in 1:51.01. Russ Payne placed third for Minnesota in third with a time of 1:51.08 and Alex Wold managed a fourth place showing in 1:51.66.

The Gophers responded with their best overall performance of the night in the 500 freestyle. Betuzzi blew away the field in an NCAA B cut time of 4:26.61, leading a Minnesota 1-2-3- finish. Nico Zebley was second in 4:33.31 and Adam Weis was third in 4:34.29.

Lee-To continued a strong regular season, taking in the 100 breaststroke in an NCAA B cut time of 54.55 and Jon Roberts followed in second for the Gophers, touching the wall in 55.02, also an NCAA B cut standard. Timmer took fourth in 55.51.

In a very competitive 200 backstroke, Maire chased down Payne for his second win of the night. Maire took over the Gopher senior in the final 50 yards to win in 1:47.83. Payne clocked a 1:48.15 while Jared White was fourth for Minnesota in a career-best 1:48.83.

Another close race followed in the 100 freestyle where Purdue’s John Schmitt touched out Carlson by just .07 seconds. Schmitt touched in 44.93 while Carlson finished in 45.00. Woodson was third in 45.09 and Miller was fourth in 45.18.

Purdue posted a third straight win in the 200 butterfly as Andrew Langenfeld was victorious in 1:46.97, besting Wisconsin’s Rice (1:49.08) and the Gophers’ Kevin Baseheart (1:49.32). Wold was fifth for Minnesota in 1:49.73.

Minnesota completed a sweep of relays, easily winning the 400 medley relay. The Gophers’ winning team consisted of White, Lee-To, Woodson and Carlson. Lee-To’s breast leg split of 53.56 was almost two seconds faster than the next quickest. Purdue was second in 3:18.64 and Minnesota’s B team of David Plummer, Roberts, Payne and Betuzzi was third in 3:19.41.

Purdue dominated the diving competitions. Kyle Mitrione won the 1-meter competition with a tally of 351.35. Cole Young was the Gophers’ top finisher with a fifth place showing and an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 309.20. Drew Brown was sixth with 292.20 points and Tyler Jepsen was eighth (237.45). On the 3-meter board, David Colturi took first for Purdue while Young took third for Minnesota (299.30). Brown was fourth (296.80) and Jepsen was ninth (241.50).