Event victories by Guillermo Blanco, Lyam Dias, Sean Mokhtari, MacKenzie Tweardy and the men’s 200 freestyle relay team highlighted the final day of the Big Ten Triple Duals for the Purdue swimming and diving teams Saturday morning.
The two-day meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center featured Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin. Saturday’s schedule not only was comprised of nine events, but also the Boilers’ senior salute ceremony and an autograph session with Olympic gold medalist and Purdue alumnus David Boudia. The Boilermakers recognized 15 seniors for their contributions to the swim-dive programs after the meet.
The No. 17 Purdue men finished off a dual meet victory against Wisconsin Saturday. But the No. 25 Wisconsin women were able to overcome a seven-point deficit entering the day to defeat the No. 18 Purdue women, 183-168. The Wisconsin women’s comeback was spearheaded by victories in both freestyle relays.
The Minnesota men and women each posted a pair of dual meet victories after being the top-ranked teams (women 13th, men 14th) among the three schools entering the weekend.
The Purdue men and women are now both 7-3 in duals this season.
While racing in the event for the first time since breaking the school record Jan. 17 at the Classic @ SMU, Blanco won the 400 IM Saturday for his third individual event of the weekend and team-leading 16th of the season.
Dias out touched UW’s Nick Schafer by .14 hundredths of a second to win the 200 breaststroke. It was one of three events of 200 yards or longer Saturday in which the top heats were decided by less than a second.
Unfortunately, the Purdue women came out on the short end of the other two tight finishes. Minnesota’s Kiera Janzen finished strong in the 500 freestyle to out touch Allie Davis by .11 hundredths of a second. In the 400 IM, it was the Gophers’ Hailey Szews out touching Francesca Marr by .62 hundredths of a second. However, Wisconsin’s Aja Van Hout ended up as the 400 IM event winner after posting her time of 4:18.46 in the first heat.
Platform diving was contested Saturday as an exhibition event that did not count towards the team scoring. Tweardy won the women’s competition with a Purdue season-best score of 320.55. Mokhtari and Nate Cox finished one-two in the men’s event. The Boilermakers won five of the six diving events on the weekend.
The Purdue men began the day with a nice win in the 200 free relay. Danny Tucker closed the race with a split of 19.66 to win the race for the Boilers. Austin Flager, Adam Johnston and Matt Friede also contributed to the victory. Purdue was also declared the winner of the 400 free relay after Minnesota’s victorious team was disqualified due to a false start.
Josh Brooks (400 IM), Brittany Fozkos (100 free), Madison Monteiro (200 breast), Alex Todd (100 fly) and Johnston (100 free) were heat winners for Purdue Saturday.
The Purdue men will be back in action next weekend for the annual rivalry dual at No. 8 Indiana. It will be televised live by the Big Ten Network. Selected members of the women’s team will compete at the two-day Ohio State Winter Invite next weekend in Columbus, but the majority of the Boilers be focusing on the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 19-22 in Minneapolis).
Final Team Scores
Men
#17 Purdue 230, Wisconsin 122
#14 Minnesota 188, Purdue 164
#14 Minnesota 227, Wisconsin 125
Women
#25 Wisconsin 183, #18 Purdue 168
#13 Minnesota 226, #18 Purdue 127
#13 Minnesota 202, #25 Wisconsin 149
Minnesota Men
“From start to finish our team was energetic, competed well, supported each other, we are really happy with the spot we are in. This was a really nice way to end our dual meet season” Coach Kelly Kremer.
The Gophers started day two with a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the women also took second in the same event.
For platform diving, Manny Pollard took third followed by teammate Dylan Zoe.
Brandon Hatanaka took second in the 400-yard IM with a time of 3:54.37.
Freshman Daryl Turner swam a 44.08 in the 100-yard freestyle for first, followed by Gopher Derek Toomey.
Carl Newenhouse finished second in the 200-yard back with a time of 1:46.88.
In the men’s 100-yard butterfly, usual suspect Kyler Van Swol took first with a time of 47.72.
CJ Smith swam a 4:29.31 to claim first in the 500-yard freestyle. Teammate Hatanaka followed, allowing the Gophers to go 1-2 in the event.
Nick Hatanaka swam a 2:03.84 in the 200-yard breaststroke, followed by teammate Spencer Mattox for third and fourth place.
The Gopher men finished with a third place finish in the 400-yard free relay.
Next Meet • The Minnesota Challenge will be held at the University Aquatic Center next week. Competition begins Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 at 6:00pm CT, and continues Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014 at 12:00pm CT.
Coach Kremer stated, “We are ready to get some rest and prepare for the championship season.”
Minnesota Women
“From start to finish our team was energetic, competed well, supported each other, we are really happy with the spot we are in. This was a really nice way to end our dual meet season,” Coach Kelly Kremer said after day two.
The Gophers started day two with a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the men also took second in the same event.
For platform diving, Sarah McCrady took second followed by Katy Etterman.
Hailey Szews took first place in the 400-yard IM with a 4:22.82 finish.
Minnesota’s Lauren Votava nabbed third place in the women’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.70. Erin Caflisch followed for fourth.
In the women’s 100-yard butterfly, Becca Weiland took first with a time of 54.25. She was followed by teammate Tori Simenec for second.
Kiera Janzen powered through her 500-yard freestyle to claim a top time of 4:47.94.
Kierra Smith won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:10.02, more than 6 seconds faster than second place.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Lauren Votava, Erin Caflisch, Becca Weiland, and Blake Zeiger claimed second place with a time of 3:23.41.
Next Meet • The Minnesota Challenge will be held at the University Aquatic Center next week. Competition begins Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 at 6:00pm CT, and continues Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014 at 12:00pm CT.
Coach Kremer stated, “We are ready to get some rest and prepare for the championship season.”
