Purdue
A program record was eclipsed for the third day in a row at Purdue swimming and diving’s Purdue Invitational, but the last session of the three-day meet also featured two new pool records at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The Purdue men and women each closed out victories in the team scoring Sunday, both teams winning by sizable margins over the rest of the field.
For the second day in a row, Emily Fogle posted an NCAA automatic-qualifying time while eclipsing her own program record in a breaststroke event. She won the A final of the 200 breast Sunday with a time of 2:07.30 that also established a new pool record. While program records are certainly more prestigious, pool records are more of a rare occurrence. Many of the women’s pool records date back to the 2010 NCAA Championships. Fogle eclipsed Alia Atkinson’s time of 2:07.38, which she posted while winning the NCAA title for Texas A&M.
About 10 minutes later, Marat Amaltdinov followed Fogle’s lead and eclipsed the men’s pool record in the 200 breast. Amaltdinov won the A final with a time of 1:54.61, besting former program record holder Giordan Pogioli’s pool benchmark of 1:55.00 from 2008. Amaltdinov also swept the breaststroke events this weekend, registering a pair of improved NCAA provisional-qualifying times.
The other new record Sunday was posted by Maddie Barta in the 200 backstroke. She established a new Purdue freshman mark of 1:57.88 while finishing as the runner-up in the A final. It doubled as the third-fastest time in program history. The Boilermakers had four of the top 10 finishers in the event, with Hanna House (1:59.58, 7th) and Breanna Robinson (2:00.13, 10th) also recording top-10 times in program history.
Sydney Couch and Max Showalter teamed up for a sweep of the platform diving competitions in their first opportunities to compete above 3-meter for Purdue.
Grace Hernandez (100 free) and Kaersten Meitz (1650 free) also won individual events and then joined forces with Allie Davis and Robinson to lead the Boilermakers to a victory in the 400 freestyle relay to close out the meet. Their time of 3:19.20 was good for fifth in the Purdue record book. Meitz improved on her second-fastest time (16:09.96) in program history in the mile. Hernandez cracked the Purdue all-time top 10 in the 100 free at ninth with a time of 49.83.
Filip Bujoczek (100 free) and Danny Conway (200 fly) each finished as the runner-up in an A final race after winning their prelim heats. Bujoczek posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 44.29 that doubled as the ninth fastest in program history.
Tim Barth (B final) and Stephen Seliskar (C final) won 200 backstroke races in the evening session. The Purdue men had seven student-athletes score in the 200 back, the most of any event Sunday. Jake Thomas took third in the A final as the Boilermakers’ top finisher.
Sophomore Annie Spalding moved into fourth place on the Purdue top-10 list when she finished third in the A final of the 200 breast with a time of 2:15.52. Spalding’s time was faster than the previous program record (2:15.83) Fogle first eclipsed as a freshman at the 2010 Purdue Invitational.
Before the finals session Sunday, the Boilermakers honored the Air Force with a special rendition of the National Anthem. An Air Force veteran in attendance was recognized and the American flag that hangs on the north wall of the facility was spotlighted for having journeyed from the nearby the Grissom Air Reserve Base to military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Air Force women’s team that competed at the Purdue Invitational this weekend then took center stage on the bulkhead in the middle of the competition pool as the Star Spangled Banner was played. The Air Force cadets traveled to Indiana via a flight from the academy in Colorado Springs to Grissom Air Reserve Base.
The Boilermakers are now scheduled until to be idle from competition until after the first of the year. However, selected divers will compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals, which are set for Dec. 15-20 in Indianapolis.
Final Team Scores
Men
Purdue, 973.5
Wyoming, 702.5
Notre Dame, 557.5
Missouri State, 491
Southern Illinois, 376.5
Women
No. 24 Purdue, 1002
Notre Dame, 692
Wyoming, 515
Florida International, 386
Air Force, 276
Missouri State, 260
Southern Illinois, 208
San Diego, 182
Notre Dame Men
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team concluded their three-day meet at Purdue Sunday, celebrating two individual victories and one relay win. Freshmen Tabahn Afrik and Matthew Grauslys both earned their first career wins at Notre Dame.
“We had a really good day; this meet was exactly what we were looking for at this point in the season, and we got an opportunity to see most of our swimmers compete again at night,” head coach Matt Tallman says. “Justin had a great weekend and showed his team that it is possible to achieve some fast times under less than ideal conditions.”
Afrik won the 100 free with his 44.10 time, his second B-cut of the day after posting a 45.04 mark in the morning prelims. Gauslys, who was seeded sixth on the strength of his 1:50.01 200 fly prelim time, earned a B-cut time with his 1:46.97 showing, which earned him first place.
Other top performers for the Irish included Connor Brown, who finished third in the 1650 free (15:36.90), and Rob Whitacre, who placed second in the 200 back (1:46.30, B-cut). James Lichtenstein also came in second in the platform diving competition. The 400 free relay A-team lineup of Afrik, Justin Plaschka, Kevin Bradley and Daniel Speers also claimed first, touching the wall in 2:56.60 in the evening session.
“We have quite a while before competitively racing again,” Tallman continues. “The second semester is going to be exciting, and we can’t wait for it to get here. The freshmen showed that they are adjusting well to a new environment. Matthew Grauslys had a great 200 fly, and Tabahn [Afrik]’s 100 free result was just as impressive.”
After three days of racing, the Irish finished third in the meet, with 557.5 points. They are next in action on the road against Virginia January 8 and 9.
Notre Dame Women
The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team finished second in the Purdue Invitational, but walked away with several first-place finishes across the three day meet and numerous B-cuts. Sunday’s highlights included freshman Alice Treuth’s victory in the 200 back (1:56.56) and Nicole Smith’s second-place finish in the 200 fly (1:57.54).
“We had such an excellent weekend,” head coach Mike Litzinger says. “I am very proud of our team, because they responded to great competition. The group came away with many season bests, and some lifetime best performances. The end results of this weekend lie in confidence in our training program, and in maturing as a team. The group was well led, and our energy was just amazing. We will continue to focus our training for February, and we are actively building a great foundation for some speed work over the holidays.”
Other top performers for the Irish included Katie Miller (third, 200 back, 1:58.60), Catherine Mulquin (third, 100 free, 50.16) and Lindsey Streepey in the platform diving competition (second, 261.85).
After three days of racing, the Irish finished second in the meet, with 692 points. They are next in action on the road against Virginia January 8 and 9.
Florida International
The FIU swimming and diving team had a strong showing in the final two days of the 2015 Purdue Invitational, setting nine Conference USA season-bests, while completing the three-day invite with a fourth-place finish.
The FIU team of sophomore Naomi Ruele, sophomore Chase Harris, sophomore Letizia Bertelli and sophomore Ally Mayhew set a C-USA season-best in the 200-yard medley relay with a 1:43.49, placing fourth in the finals. The Panthers also had the team of junior Jennifer Alfani, freshman Emily Jurich, sophomore Maria Lopez and junior Anna Jonsson recorded a 1:46.27 for a 14th-place finish in the finals.
Freshman Ilaria Manzella and senior Becky Wilde finished 10th and 16th, respectively in the 400-yard individual medley. Manzella notched a time of 4:24.74, while Wilde posted a 4:35.19.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Bertelli posted a season-best in the conference with a 55.46, finishing eighth in the finals. Junior Jennifer Deist posted a 55.21 (12th) and senior Valerie Inghels notched a 56.38 (16th) in the finals.
Sophomore Kyna Pereira recorded a C-USA season-best and personal-best 1:48.44 in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing fourth. Sophomore Skye Carey finished the finals with a 1:49.53, placing 10th.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Ruele finished second in the finals, setting a C-USA season-best 54.55 (NCAA B Standard) which was also a personal-best. Alfani finished 16th in the finals with a 57.33.
Pereira, Bertelli, senior Jessica Piper and Carey finished third in the finals of the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:23.37 (C-USA season-best).
Pereira set another C-USA season-best this time in the 1650-yard freestyle, posting a 16:36.82 for a fifth place finish in the event finals. Manzella finished 15th with a time of 17:03.56. A pair of Panthers placed in the finals of the 200-yard backstroke as Carey finished eighth with a time of 2:01.70 and Piper placed 11th with a time of 2:00.21.
For the third time over the past two days, Ruele set a C-USA season-best with a 50.46 in the 100-yard freestyle, placing fifth in the finals. Bertelli finished sixth with a 51.17 and Pereira placed 16th with a 52.31.
In the 200-yard butterfly, Deist set a C-USA season-best with a 2:02.94, placing 13th in the finals, while freshman Nicole Hunnewell placed 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke finals with a 2:23.81.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the team of Carey, Ruele, Bertelli and Deist finished third with a time of 3:22.95 (C-USA season-best) and the team of Jonsson, Piper, Manzella and Hunnewell finished 15th with a time of 3:35.10.
In diving, sophomore Rebecca Quesnel placed sixth in the 1-meter dive (267.70) ,while four Panthers placed in the platform finals. Quesnel finished third (255.70), sophomore Natalia Coronado finished seventh (194.55), junior Lily Kaufmann finished eighth (190.20) and sophomore Laura Coronado finished ninth (188.30).
The Panthers will next compete in the Indian River Tri-Meet on Dec. 15.
Missouri State
Two school records were broken and two Bears won events as the Missouri State swimming and diving teams completed their appearances at the Purdue Invitational Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center.
“Overall I was pleased with the effort of our men and women this weekend,” Bears head coach Dave Collins said. “We had a lot of very good mid-season swims take place. This is such a valuable experience for our athletes as we continue to evaluate races and make adjustments. I look forward to taking this momentum into our most important training cycle of the season.”
The MSU men’s squad ended the Invite in fourth with 491 points ahead of conference-foe Southern Illinois (376.50). Host Purdue took first in the meet (973.50) and was followed by Wyoming (702.50) and Notre Dame (557.50). On the women’s side, the Bears earned 260 points for sixth place and finished ahead of Southern Illinois (208) and San Diego (182). Purdue (1002) finished first with Notre Dame (707), Wyoming (500), Florida International (386) and Air Force (276) following the Boilermakers in the rankings.
Minki Kang got the Bears’ men’s team off to a strong start with a first-place showing in the 1650-yard freestyle, touching the wall in a personal-best 15 minutes, 21.45 seconds. MSU’s Brandon Weissman also took ninth (15:57.93) in the event and Ethan Bresette placed 11th (16:01.17).
In the 200 backstroke and 100 free, three MSU men’s swimmers – Bryce Blattner, Jack Snow and Will Brand – scored points with showings in their respective B-finals. Other Bears that achieved top times of the year in the 200 back included Kevin Douglas (1:50.69), Will Frisbie (1:51.71), Weissman (1:52.94) and Canaan Campbell (1:53.93).
MSU’s Artur Osvath broke the men’s school record in the 200 breaststroke twice over Sunday. After topping Isaac Springer’s 1:58.22 school-record mark with a 1:57.91 time in the morning preliminaries, Osvath completed a 1:56.39 finish in the A-final for runner-up and NCAA ‘B’ cut.
"I think that it was a really good meet overall,” Osvath said. “We had really tough opponents, but we were still able to race with them at a high level. I think this shows that the team’s progress so far has been very positive. I enjoyed putting a racing suit on and it was good to get a glimpse on how the conference championship will be."
The Bears continued to have success across the 200 breast finals.
Springer finished fourth by touching the wall in 2:01.26, while Uvis Kalnins placed sixth in the A-final with a 2:00.39 finish.
“Great meet overall for the team,” Springer said. “(It) was very nice to see the guys fight through some hard races on the third day after a long meet. I was very proud of the freshman who stepped up and grabbed some personal-best times."
MSU also had two more swimmers earn points in the 200 breast B-final, as Christopher Heye had the top time (2:02.26) to score nine points and Uldis Tazans finished 12th overall with his B-final time of 2:04.64.
“It was a very productive meet,” Heye said. “We got to see some people step up, get into some fast finals and also grow as a team through the support shown to one another. It was nice to see all the hard work pay off and we are excited to see how the rest of the season plays out."
Kacper Cwiek led the MSU men’s team in the 200 butterfly, taking 10th overall with a time of 1:49.48. Nicholas Theunissen also scored points for the Bears in the B-final, while Ethan Bresette and Preston Selby made C-final appearances.
The Bears’ men’s 400 free relay squad of Kalnins, Osvath, Brand and Cwiek ended the meet by coming in at a season-best 3:01.38 for third place.
The top event for the Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team eventually was the 200 fly.
Dora Kiss broke her second school record of the weekend as she won the event, topping her own MSU-record mark of 1:57.18 for an NCAA consideration time.
"This was a big weekend for us with several great swims,” Kiss said. “Now we have a better picture of where we are at in the season as a team and also as individuals. Personally, I could not ask for a better meet and I cannot wait for my last conference meet."
Two more Bears notched points for the women’s squad in the 200 fly. Rebecca Amparano had an A-final showing and took sixth in a time of 2:00.75, while Josie Pearson won the B-final with a lifetime-best 2:00.96.
"As a team we preformed really well,” Amparano said. “The results from this weekend not only from a team perspective, but also individually, proved that we are capable of accomplishing great things this coming year. I'm incredibly pleased with my results and I am excited to see what conference holds for us as a team!"
Lauren Pavel, Olivia Gean and Sydney Zupan were the remaining MSU women’s swimmers to capture points for the squad. Pavel and Gean both represented the Bears in the 200 breast B-final with Pavel (2:18.22) taking 10th overall and Gean (2:21.78) finishing 14th. Zupan competed in the 200 back B-final and eventually took 16th overall (2:01.86).
MSU first-year swimmers Brianna McCullough, Hope Ernhart, Loretta Stelnicki, Moriah Moore, Althea Felton and Kaylee Larson all earned personal-best times in their respective events Sunday. A host of other Bears also made finals appearances for the squad which included Briana Horozewski, CeCe Etter, Emily Chesser, Andi Burroughs, Emma Wall, Lauren Williams and Ibby Simcox.
“I'm really proud of our entire team's effort this weekend,” Simcox said. “We came ready to race and put up some great times that'll give us the confidence we need for the rest of the season and heading into the conference championships. Now looking forward, we have to get back to work and stay focused going into our hardest training sessions of the year."
A majority of the Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up their competitive schedule for the fall portion of the 2015-16 season with the conclusion of the Purdue Invite. For a select few of the Bears, the final event of their 2015 calendar year will take place at the AT&T Winter National Championships beginning on Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.
Southern Illinois
The Saluki men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished the weekend with impressive swims at the Purdue Invitational against some of the top teams in the nation. On the men’s side, SIU qualified for the A Finals in 12 events, plus the one- and three-meter dives, while the women swam in six A Finals along with both boards.
“I think we’re in a great position,” head coach Rick Walker said. “We are who we are, and all we can do is control what we can control. I think we did a very good job in the face of some of the best competition in the country. We worried about us and we used the competition to help us be better.”
For the men, Joao Facciotti, Michael Wolfe and Andre Brilhante competed among the top in their respective races, each swimming in multiple A Final heats. On the first night of the meet, SIU came away with three fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the 500-yard freestyle and the 50-yard freestyle. Brilhante, Facciotti, Lucas de Aquino and Alex Crawford finished the 200-yard relay with the best time of the season at 1:22.24 for a strong start for the Salukis. Wolfe continued with a 4:31.35 finish in the 500-yard freestyle, followed by Joao Facciotti with a 20.44 time in the 50 free.
Facciotti came back on Day Two with the highest finishes for the Salukis on the weekend. He began by tying for first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a 47.85. Facciotti came back later in the night with a second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. The sophomore’s success continued on the final day of the meet as Facciotti sixth A Final of the weekend, finishing sixth in the 100-yard freestyle.
Wolfe and Brilhante highlighted the weekend for the men as well. Brilhante’s strength came in the freestyle swims, taking second in the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday and third in the 100-yard freestyle on Sunday. Wolfe had a successful freestyle swim on Sunday as well, finishing the mile in second place at 15:30.70.
The Salukis finished the weekend with fourth place finishes in both the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay, as well as a fifth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.
As for the divers, Shane Phillips and Jack Reilly each qualified for the A Final in the one-meter dives, finishing in sixth and eighth places, respectively. Reilly continued on to the three-meter board on Saturday with a seventh place finish.
On the women’s side, the Salukis came on strong on Day One with standout performances by Bryn Handley and Kelsie Walker in the 500-yard freestyle. Handley finished with a career best time, coming in at 4:50.46 for eighth place. Although she didn’t qualify for the A Final, Walker swam the 500 free in 4:48.10, a time that would have likely placed in the top-10 in the nation prior to this meet.
Handley and Walker continued with big swims throughout the weekend, both with impressive performances in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Walker coming in seventh and Handley in ninth. SIU’s freestyle corps was successful in relays as well, earning second place in the 800-yard freestyle relay and sixth in the 400-yard freestyle.
SIU’s medley relays came on strong throughout the weekend as well, with an eighth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay on Day One by Sarah James, Liane Tatigian, Lauren Stockton and McKenna Avery, followed by a seventh place finish in the 200-yard medley relay by James, Tatigian, Chandler Ott and Avery.
Kaixuan ‘Sherry’ Zhang was met with tough competition this weekend, as she finished in second place for the first time this season in the three-meter dives, coming in second to Purdue’s Mary Beth Dunnichay whom she faced last year at the NCAA meet. Zhang rebounded on Day Two, however, claiming first place on the one-meter board with a 328.85 score. Rachel Williams came away with her best score of the season in the one-meter dive, finishing 11th in prelims at 246.20.
“Rachel had a great meet against great competition,” Walker said. “And kudos to Sherry. This was really her first competition where she was up against other divers like her and she still came out on top.”
The Saluki women finished the weekend in seventh place with 208 total points.
This weekend’s meet concludes the fall season for most of the Salukis, aside from a few who will compete at the 2015 AT&T Winter National Championships in Washington at the start of December.
