The eight-man Indiana senior class went out in style Saturday afternoon at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center as the seventh-ranked Hoosiers topped Purdue by a 186-114 score, giving IU wins in six-straight dual meets to end the season.
The Hoosiers turn their focus to preparations for the Big Ten Championships, Feb. 26-March 1 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Prior to the meet, Emad Abdelatif, George Andrews, Cody Miller, Michael Mohler, Conor Murphy, Bryce Ogden, Eric Ress, Darian Schmidt and James Wells were recognized for their contribution to Hoosier swimming and diving.
Wells, Cody Miller, Max Irwin and Anze Tavcar won the 200 medley relay in 1:28.94. The Hoosiers went 1-2 in the 1,000 freestyle with Jackson Miller winning in 9:20.29, his first time swimming the event. Grayson Smith touched the wall second in 9:29.48.
Ress ran away with the 200 freestyle in an NCAA B time of 1:37.68. Irwin was second in 1:39.61. Wells added a B cut in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 47.67, taking the race by more than a body length over Purdue’s Stephen Seliskar. Bob Glover was third in 50.35.
Cody Miller won the 100 breaststroke in 55, 54, with Mike Hurley third (56.01) and Tanner Kurz fourth (56.52). Steve Schmuhl out-lasted Purdue’s Guillermo Blanco in the 200 butterfly, winning in 1:46.77 to Blanco’s 1:46.95. Joe Powell was fourth in 1:52.74.
Tavcar took second in the 50 free with a time of 20.31, with Wells fifth (20.86). Tavcar was also second in the 100 freestyle (44.95), with Jackson Miller fourth (45.86) and Sam Lorentz fifth (47.03).
IU went 1-2-3 on the 3-meter, led by Schmidt’s score of 450.30. Ogden was second (348.15), with Abdelatif third (343.43). Murphy won the platform with a score of 386.33, with Danton Rogers third (363.68).
It was a 1-2 Hoosier finish in the 200 backstroke, led by Ress in an NCAA B time of 1:42.97. Schmuhl takes second in 1:46.16. IU went 2-3 in the 200 breaststroke with Cody Miller second in 2:01.19, and Hurley third (2:05.30).
Indiana added another 1-2 finish to its tally with Jackson Miller winning the 500 freestyle in 4:32.42. Ress followed him in 4:33.73.
The 100 butterfly went down to the wire with Powell, Irwin and Seliskar in the hunt. Powell touched first in 49.70, with Irwin second at 49.72. Seliskar was third for Purdue in 49.81.
Schmidt made it a sweep of the springboards, winning the 1-meter with a score of 397.95. Abdelatif was third (348.30) and Joshua Arndt fifth (330.60).
Indiana ended the day with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as Wells, Ress, Jackson Miller and Tavcar were out-touched by Purdue with the Boilermakers posting a 2:58.78 to the Hoosiers’ 2:58.84.
Danny Tucker’s sweep of the freestyle sprints as well as his great anchor split for the victorious 400 free relay team highlighted No. 23 Purdue men’s swimming and diving’s 186-114 dual meet loss at No. 7 Indiana Saturday morning.
The Boilermakers closed out their dual meet schedule with a 7-4 record this season. All four losses were against Big Ten rivals ranked among the Top 15 of the CSCAA rankings. The Hoosiers won their sixth straight dual to finish the season 6-4.
Purdue was victorious in the 50 and 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and 400 free relay Saturday. Guillermo Blanco (200 butterfly) and Layne Rogers (1-meter diving) also moved up the program’s all-time Top 10 lists in an event.
“There was some great racing and diving on the BTN in Bloomington this morning,” Purdue head coach Dan Ross said. “Indiana has a very impressive team, but I think we are right where we need to be going into Big Tens. It was great to see Danny Tucker back in form after his injury. It’s time to rest up and get ready for Big Tens.”
Tucker played a starring role in his final dual meet as a Boilermaker. The senior lifted his team to victory in the 400 free relay with a 100 split of 43.46 on the anchor leg of the final event of the day. It was the only sub -44 second split of the race and allowed Purdue to rally to win the event by .06 hundredths of a second. With Matt Friede, Autin Flager and Filip Bujoczek also contributing to the victory, the Boilers won the event vs. Indiana for the fourth year in a row.
Tucker also swept the freestyle sprints vs. the Hoosiers for the second year in a row, finishing his career with five individual event wins against rival Indiana. He won the 50 in 20.13 and the 100 in 44.74. Tucker moved into a second-place tie on the team with nine individual victories this season.
Lyam Dias chased down IU standout Cody Miller to win the 200 breaststroke, posting a pair of sub-31 second splits on each of the final two 50-yard splits. He out touched Miller by .38 hundredths of a second after finishing second to the Big Ten champ by .45 hundredths in the 100 breast. Dias also has nine event wins this year.
Blanco and Rogers posted Purdue season-best times/scores while finishing as the runner-up in an event. Blanco placed second to the Hoosiers’ Steve Schmuhl by .18 hundredths of a second in the 200 butterfly. His time of 1:46.95 was good for fifth place in Purdue history.
Rogers was the runner-up to Indiana’s Darian Schmidt from the 1-meter springboard, moving into third place in Purdue history with a score of 379.43. Blanco, Bujoczek and Rogers joined Dias and Tucker as those to be the Boilers’ top finishers in multiple individual events.
The 100 butterfly featured arguably the most exciting finish of the day among the individual events. The top four finishers all touched within .11 hundredths.
Purdue will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for its next two competitions. Selected swimmers will be in action the weekend of Feb. 22-23 at the Michigan First Chance meet. The majority of the team will take the next few weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, set for Feb. 26 through March 1.
