Purdue
Kaersten Meitz and Allie Davis eclipsed the women's 500 freestyle record about 15 minutes apart in the prelims and the men swept the relay events, highlighting the opening day of the Purdue Invitational on Friday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Meitz lowered her program record (4:42.11) in the 500 free by nearly two seconds, setting the new benchmark at 4:40.29 after Davis had initially eclipsed it two heats earlier. Davis won the head-to-head showdown in the A final with a time of 4:40.51.
Adam Johnston won the A final of the 50 free with a time of 20.03 and anchored the 200 freestyle relay to victory, teaming up with Austin Flager, Stephen Seliskar and Filip Bujoczek. The Purdue men also won the 400 medley relay as Marat Amaltdinov and Alex Toetz joined forces with Seliskar and Bujoczek.
Joe Cifelli and Mary Beth Dunnichay teamed up to give the Purdue divers a sweep of the springboard events contested Friday. Cifelli won the men's 1-meter with the fourth-best score (398.45) in program history.
Hannah Manger won the A final of the 200 individual medley, an event in which the Purdue women had four of the top five finishers.
The women won the 400 medley relay with the second-fastest time (3:37.03) in program history. The victorious quartet was Breanna Robinson, Emily Fogle, Meagan Lim and Davis.
Jared Schimmelpfenning finished as the runner-up in the A final of the 500 free. Taite Kitchell (B final of 200 IM), Lizzy Lyon (B final of 500 free), Danielle Auckley (C final of 50 free) and Joe Gardner (D final of 200 IM) won their races in the evening finals.
Action continues Saturday with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
Team Scores
Men
Purdue, 294
Wyoming, 182
Notre Dame, 160
Missouri State, 134
Southern Illinois, 117
Women
No. 24 Purdue, 285
Notre Dame, 207
Wyoming, 143
Florida International, 100
Air Force, 82
Missouri State, 69
Southern Illinois, 64
San Diego, 63
Notre Dame Men
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team currently sits third after one day of competition at the Purdue Invitational. Sophomore Justin Plaschka earned the team’s first NCAA B-cut of the season, touching the wall in 20.05 in the 50 free.
“We had some really good swims tonight; we need to be sharper in the morning, but tonight shows we are heading in the right direction,” head coach Matt Tallman states. “Justin [Plaschka] had a great 50 to lead off the 200 free relay, racing a lifetime best. WE had other lifetime bests throughout the night as well, from Rob Whitacre, Kevin Bradley, and Reed Fujan. I’m looking forward to what the rest of the weekend has in store for us.”
Plaschka’s preliminary time of 20.25 in the 50 free seeded him in the A-final of the evening race, where he finished second in 20.05. Other top finishers for the Irish included Connor Brown, who placed ninth in the 500 free (4:28.02) and Reed Fujan, who also finished ninth in the 200 IM (1:49.35). Freshman Tabahn Afrik was the second fastest sprinter for the Irish Friday night, touching in at 20.43 in the 50 free, good for ninth place as well.
In the relay events, the A-team of Plaschka, Afrik, Daniel Speers and Kevin Bradley claimed second in the 200 free relay (1:20.08), while the A-team of Bogac Ayhan, Zachary Stump, Plaschka and Afrik followed suit in the 400 medley relay (second, 3:16.65). The Irish scored 160 points on Friday, good for third place heading into Saturday’s races.
In diving, James Lichtenstein and Zane Parker competed in the men’s 1-meter event, with Lichtenstein placing fourth (281.45) and Parker finishing seventh (250.95). Both gentlemen will compete in the 3-meter competition tomorrow.
Notre Dame Women
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team fared well on the first day of the Purdue Invitational. The Irish were led by Catherine Mulquin, who scored her first B-cut of the season in the 50 free during the prelims session in 22.90.
“We had some really good stuff happen today,” head coach Mike Litzinger says. “The whole mission in competing at this meet is to swim faster than we have all year long, and put up some times that we can head into the ACC Championships with that will put us in good position for seeding.
“The girls are responding to the challenge; I like to see that,” he continues. “It’s been a bit of a hard road for them this fall, with all the different types of training we’ve thrown at them with boxing, weight lifting, yoga, and so on. So to come here with a few days off, having rested up for the meet, they feel fresh – and they took advantage of that. We saw numerous season-best times today, and many of the girls swam their lifetime bests today too. So it’s all exciting to be witness to.”
Other top individual performers throughout the day included Katie Miller, who placed third in the 200 IM (2:02.13) and Catherine Galletti, who also took third in the 50 free (23.03). Perhaps the brightest moment of the day came in the evening finals session, when the 200 free relay A-team lineup of Mulquin, Galletti, Sofia Revilak and Ella Moynihan clinched first in a time of 1:32.00. In the 400 medley relay to close out the evening, Mulquin and Galletti joined forces with Revilak and junior Danielle Margheret to take second, touching in at 3:39.27.
“We’re excited for what happened today, but every event is going to hold something different for our team,” admits Litzinger. “A lot of people swam different events that they don’t normally swim today, for example, Alice Treuth in the 500 free. Tomorrow, she gets the chance to swim the 100 back, a more traditional event for her. So tomorrow, there are chances for girls to return to swimming their traditional events. The morning session, the third session of this six-session meet, is going to be a big one for us.”
In the women’s 3-meter diving event, Lindsey Streepey placed fourth (311.15) while Deidre Worth finished sixth (278.95). Both girls will dive again tomorrow in the 1-meter competition.
The Irish start up again tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. ET, for day two of the Purdue Invitational.
Missouri State
The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished day one of the Purdue Invitational with several personal- and season-best times on Friday, Nov. 20, at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center.
The MSU women’s swimming and diving team currently sits in sixth place out of eight with 69 points, trailing No. 24 Purdue (285), Notre Dame (207), Wyoming (143), Florida International (100) and Air Force (82), while also currently ahead of Southern Illinois (64) and San Diego (63). The Bears’ men’s team is currently in fourth out of five teams with 134 points, trailing Purdue (294), Wyoming (182), Notre Dame (160), while they sit ahead of Southern Illinois (117).
MSU women’s senior Dora Kiss opened the action at the Invite by finishing third in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries, then finished fifth in the finals with a season-best 4:45.42, which gave her an NCAA consideration time in the event.
Sophomore Sydney Zupan placed 18th for the Bears in a time of 4:56.54. Heather Snyder also made it to a finals event with her prelims best 5:05.59 finish. Other Bears with season-best times in prelims included Shawna Elsey (5:07.79), Emma Metz (5:08.73), Brianna McCullough (5:10.83) and CeCe Etter (5:13.49).
Freshman Minki Kang won the men’s 500 free A-final with a personal-best 4:29.02, while sophomore Ethan Bresette placed fifth in the A-final with a 4:31.44 finish. Bears freshman Bryce Blattner advanced to the B-finals with a lifetime-best 4:32.69 and junior Brandon Weissman finished with a season-best 4:39.77 for 15th. Canaan Campbell also placed in the top 30 with his top time of the year (4:39.77) and Michael Mollak placed in the top 30 with a 4:41.53 finish.
Leading the Bears in the 200-yard individual medley on the women’s side was Rebecca Amparano, who placed 17th in a time of 2:04.08. Freshman Josie Pearson finished 22nd (2:05.15), Lauren Pavel placed in the D-final with her top time of the year (2:06.55) and Briana Horozewski swam a season-best 2:07.38 in the prelims. Emily Chesser (2:08.81), Olivia Gean (2:11.51), Emma Wall (2:11.86), Kaylee Larson (2:13.19) and Andi Burroughs all set top marks for the 2015-16 season as well.
On the men’s side, the Bears took three of the top four places in the 200 IM. Senior Uvis Kalnins set a ‘B’ mark by finishing first in a time of 1:47.21 in the A-finals. Despite finishing first in the prelims, MSU freshman Artur Osvath finished runner-up in a personal-best 1:47.57. Sophomore Kacper Cwiek also placed in the A-final, as he finished fourth in a time of 1:48.45. Freshman Nicholas Theunissen set a season-best time (1:51.98) in prelims along with Christopher Heye (1:52.52), while Will Frisbie also finished in his top time of the year (1:54.40).
In the final individual event of the day – the 50 free – Hope Ernhart led the way for the Bears’ women’s team with a 23.77 finish. Freshman Loretta Stelnicki placed 21st and had her top time of her MSU career (23.97) in the prelims. Other season-best times for MSU included Elsey (24.69), McCullough (24.81), Lauren Williams (24.98), Althea Felton (25.28) and Moriah Moore (25.35).
MSU freshman Brenden Bolman led the way for the men with a 20.80 finish in the 50 free for 12th place, followed by senior Jack Snow (21.33) who finished 20th. Will Brand (21.63) and Uldis Tazans (21.49) also set top times for the year.
In the women’s 200 free relay, Missouri State’s Bump, Ernhart, Zupan and Stelnicki finished in a season-best time of 1:34.87 for a fourth-place finish.
Florida International
After the first day of the 2015 Purdue Invitational, the FIU Swimming and Diving team is currently in fourth place.
The Panthers with 100 points, trail Purdue (285), Notre Dame (207) and Wyoming (143) day one’s events.
"We came out a big sluggish today,” Head Coach Randy Horner said. “We picked it up in Finals tonight and had some solid swims. I think we will get better as the weekend progresses."
Sophomore Naomi Ruele set an FIU record with a 22.73 (NCAA B standard) in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing second in the event finals.
Sophomore Kyna Pereira registered a C-USA season best 4:50.24 in the 500-yard freestyle in the event finals. Also setting C-USA season-best was senior Jessica Piper, who posted a 2:03.82 in the finals of the 200-yard individual medley.
The 200-yard freestyle relay on Ruele, Letizia Bertelli, Ally Mayhew and Jenny Deist finished first in the finals and had set a school record but was DQ’d for an early takeoff.
Air Force Women
The Air Force women’s swimming team posted several all-time top 10 times on the first day of the Purdue Invitational, Friday, Nov. 20, in West Lafayette, Ind. The Falcons are in fifth place with 82 points. Purdue leads the team scoring with 285 points, followed by Notre Dame (207), Wyoming (143) and Florida International (100). Missouri State is in sixth place (69), Southern Illinois is seventh (64) and the University of San Diego is eighth (63).
Sophomore Jinan Andrews and freshman Emma Strom posted top 10 times in the 200 IM. Andrews swam a 2:05.69, the fifth best in school history. Strom came in at 2:06.59, the eight fastest.
Mount placed fifth in the “B” final in the 50 free with a 23.79. Sophomore Elise Hart won the “D” final in the 50 free with a time of 23. 64, the fifth fastest in school history.
In the 400 medley relay, the team of Emma Strom, Leah Weber, Maria Schroeder and Genevieve Miller placed sixth with a time of 3:48.25. Strom’s time of 56.91 in the 100 back is the fourth fastest in school history.
Air Force placed third in the 200 free relay as the team of Maria Schroeder, Brianna Mount, Jinan Andrews and Elise Hart swam a 1:34.26. In the 500 free, Genevieve Miller was third with an NCAA “B” time of 4:43.77.
The Purdue Invitational continues on Saturday, Nov. 21, in West Lafayette, Ind.
