Purdue Sweeps Intercollegiates, Indy Adds Four Qualifiers

Purdue swept the season-opening Indiana Intercollegiates Saturday afternoon inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

“I always like this meet because it’s the first time you get to see your young guys swim and see how they handle everything,” head coach Dan Ross said. “This was even one week earlier than last year, which was one week earlier than we normally do it, so I was mildly surprised we had as many better times than we had last year. It gives us some things to build on for the next three weeks.”

"This was a really good opportunity for our younger swimmers to show what they can do," head coach John Klinge said. "We had a lot of swimmers that really raced hard. This is a good way to start the season, and it's a good way for us to evaluate where we are at this point of the year."

The University of Indianapolis picked up four NCAA Division II qualifying times.  Guy Kogel (Nahalal, Isreal) grabbed the first automatic qualifying time, winning the 100 butterfly in impressive fashion (49.93), two-thirds of a second ahead of the field.  He also took second in the 200 free (1:43.82)   Austin Biefnes (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) was second in the 200 IM, finishing in 1:56.40 for an NCAA B-cut time standard.

Maura Donahue (Milan, Mich.) took second in the 200 IM and registered an NCAA B-cut in the process (2:11.93).  She later snagged another B-time by winning the 500 free (5:05.99).  Her sister, Meghan Donahue (Milan, Mich./Milan), grabbed third place in the 100 backstroke (1:01.45).  Erica Smith (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Snider/Duquesne) picked up the fifth B-cut and took third with her 58.32 performance in the 100 butterfly.


Purdue started the meet with victories in the first four swimming events. The 200 medley relay team of Chris Pfaff, Aaron Koger, Sam Wilcher and Chuck Destro started the festivities with a 1:32.68 victory. Junior Drew Wolfred then won the 200 freestyle after touching the wall in 1:42.61. Sophomore Ben Wachtel, the school’s freshman record holder in the 200 freestyle, outswam the 50 freestyle field with his 20.96 clocking. The winning continued in the 200 IM as sophomore Albert Miller took that race in 1:55.10.

Purdue also swept both diving events. Junior J.P. Perez won the 3-meter with his score of 341.70, and junior All-American David Colturi outscored the 1-meter field after recording a 345.20 score. Perez was second off the 1-meter with 317.65 points, and freshman Jimmy Page finished third with his 287.85 score.

Wachtel got Purdue back on the winning track in the pool when he outraced the 100 freestyle field and finished in 45.97. Destro, a freshman from Pittsburgh, continued the trend in the very next race as he stopped the clock in 51.12 to take the 100 backstroke victory and lead a Purdue sweep of the top-six places.

Freshman Vinny Donnelly took the 500 freestyle title as he touched the wall in 4:38.12 to lead a top-five sweep by the Boilermakers, and Koger claimed the top spot in the 100 breaststroke with his 55.90 time. The Boilermakers’ 200 freestyle quartet of Kyle House, Brendan Joyce, Gage Barry and Wachtel ended the meet with a 1:24.71 win.

In addition to his victory, Destro also finished second in the 50 freestyle with his 21.36 time. Wilcher also swam to a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle after touching the wall in 4:39.89. House and Miller also added second-place finishes in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively, to their wins. Freshman Corey Bandura earned a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle with his 47.16 time and finished third in the 50 freestyle after stopping the clock in 21.55.

Sophomore Tyler Gertz finished third in the 100 backstroke and was followed in fourth by junior Mark Boman, in fifth by freshman Sam Niesen and in sixth by sophomore Zach Johnson. Junior Scott Dean swam to a third-place finish in the 200 IM and was followed by Wilcher in fourth and freshman Aaron Buchanan in fifth.

Sophomore Jimmy Brooks touched the wall in 50.75 to finish third in the 100 butterfly. He was immediately followed by junior Chris Pfaff in 51.29 and freshman Alec LaMothe in 52.66. Barry was third in the 100 freestyle with his 47.49 clocking, and Wolfred and Joyce finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Seniors Travis Smith and Andre Koop finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 500 freestyle and were followed by freshman Raymond Mahon in fifth.

Dean also finished third in the 100 breaststroke when he recorded a 58.79 clocking. He was followed by sophomore Wyatt Hodges in fourth in 59.62. Joyce clocked a fourth-place time of 21.68 in the 50 freestyle, and freshman Noah Pashley was right behind in fifth with his 21.69 time. LaMothe and Barry finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle.

Freshman Lauren Nichols picked up wins in her first two collegiate races as she touched the wall in 23.60 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and in 52.02 in the 100 freestyle. The Birmingham, Mich., native led a Boilermaker sweep of the top-five places in the shorter race and four of the top-five places in the longer distance.

Sophomore Lauren Roth led a Purdue sweep of the top-five finishers in the 200 freestyle with her victorious 1:52.29 swim. The Carrollton, Texas, native was followed by Kristen Gilson in 1:53.68, Leah Henninger in 1:54.06, Mary-Margaret Lopez in 1:56.20 and Jessica Skiba in 1:56.55.

Freshman Seraphina Van also made a splash in her first collegiate race. The Cypress, Texas, native beat the 200 IM field with her time of 2:07.37. Senior co-captain Christine Inman touched the wall in 2:12.43 for a third-place finish, and sophomore co-captain Christina Jacobs finished fifth in 2:13.64.


Junior Erin Mertz also picked up a win in her first meet as a Boilermaker. The transfer from Kansas, who earned All-America acclaim last season, scored 295.20 points to take top honors in the 3-meter. Junior Kara Cook, also an All-American, won the 1-meter with her score of 264.15 and was followed by Mertz, who finished second with 257.60 points.

Junior Katie Beck took the 100 butterfly title in 58.03. She was followed closely by Lopez, who touched the wall second in 58.07. Inman was fourth with her 58.44 clocking, and freshman Emily McIlrath finished sixth in 59.72.

Sophomore Kristen Gilson, Purdue's freshman record holder in the 200 backstroke, won the 100 backstroke in 58.65. Sophomore Sarah Dunleavy finished second with her time of 1:01.18 and was followed by senior Elizabeth Holmes in sixth with her 1:03.43 clocking and freshman Ellie Roeing in seventh in 1:03.59.

McIlrath added to the list of first-time winners when she outraced the 100 breaststroke field and took the win in 1:05.32. Junior Jessica Davis was second in 1:06.92, and freshman Megan Roach touched the wall in 1:07.47 for a third-place finish. Jacobs was fourth with her 1:07.66 time, and freshman Ellesse Lunde completed the top-five sweep by stopping the clock in 1:07.75.

The Boilermakers led off the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay. Junior Allie Smith, Davis, Inman and Beck touched the wall in 1:47.27 to win the first race of the season. Purdue also won the final event of the day, the 200 freestyle relay, when Nichols, Roth, freshman Lauren Gustafson and Henninger recorded a 1:37.40 time.

Gustafson was second in the 50 freestyle in 24.16, while sophomore Sara Bogert took third in 24.50. Beck placed fourth in 24.62 and freshman Nora Brolsma was fifth in 25.04. Henninger swam to a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle after touching the wall in 52.92. She was immediately followed by Gustafson in 53.15. Bogert stopped the clock in 54.99 and finished fifth.

Skiba led the Boilermakers in the 500 freestyle with her second-place, 5:06.89 finish. Freshman Courtney Tumbush finished third in 5:07.38 and was immediately followed by Gutwein in 5:10.63 and freshman Katie Guell in 5:13.78.

Purdue won the Indiana Intercollegiates title for the eighth consecutive season. Evansville finished second with 373 points and was followed by Indianapolis' 297 total in third. IUPUI scored 178 to finish fourth, and Valparaiso was fifth with 104 points.

Laura Rickey (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville H.S.) had Valpo’s top individual finish of the day, placing ninth in the 100 freestyle.  The senior finished with a time of 56.41 seconds.
 
Karen Berg (Glendale, Ariz./Deer Valley H.S.) added a 10th place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:06.06 for the Crusaders.
 
The Brown and Gold also had a pair of 11th place marks.  Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) finished with a collegiate-best time of 2:17.40 in the 200 individual medley while Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) earned the same spot with a time of 5:35.70 in the 500 freestyle.
 
Valparaiso will have two weeks off before beginning its dual meet schedule at home on October 24 when the Crusaders host Wright State in a 10 a.m. contest.

The Boilermakers return to the pool Oct. 23 when they travel to Miami University for a dual meet that starts at 5 p.m. ET.