After each won all 10 events over the first two days of competition, the Purdue swimming and diving teams have opened up sizable leads on Michigan State entering Saturday’s standard 14-event dual meet.
The No. 19 Purdue women hold a 145-39 lead on the Spartans. The Purdue men are up 134-50 on their opponents from East Lansing. Action concludes Saturday at noon.
Steele Johnson swept the men’s springboard diving events Friday morning. He posted a team season-best score on 1-meter (395.40) that doubled as the third best in program history. The freshman already ranks among the top three in the Purdue record book in all three diving events. Mary Beth Dunnichay also swept the women’s springboard diving events.
Austin Flager is competing in his first meet of the season this week after becoming eligible during the semester break. He has already had a major impact on Purdue’s relay teams, anchoring both the 200 medley and 200 free relays to victory. The 200 free relay foursome – which also featured Stephen Seliskar, Nate Thomas, Filip Bujoczek – posted a team season-best time of 1:22.49 to conclude Friday’s races. The sophomore also won heat 4 of the 100 IM.
Marat Amaltdinov and Meagan Lim won the 400 IM races for the Boilermakers. It was the only traditional individual swimming event that’s part of the Big Ten and NCAA Championships which was contested over the first two days of action.
Hannah Manger registered individual victories in the 50 back and 100 IM along with swimming the leadoff backstroke leg on Purdue’s victorious 200 medley relay team Thursday. Emily Fogle (50 breast) and Kylie Vogel (50 fly) also won an individual event and swam on a relay winner. Rhiannon Sheets was part of both freestyle relay winners.
Lyam Dias (50 breast and 100 IM) and Seliskar (50 back and 50 fly) each won a pair of events to go along with swimming the breaststroke and butterfly legs, respectively, on the Boilers’ victorious 200 medley relay team Thursday.
Bujoczek missed the Minnesota Grand Prix in November due to illness, but got off to a strong start here in the spring semester with heat victories in the 50 back and 50 fly to go along with his role on Purdue’s victorious 200 free relay team.
