Freestyle Dominance Leads Purdue to Sweep of Double Dual with Notre Dame, Kentucky
Wins in three of five freestyle races led the Purdue women’s team to a sweep of Notre Dame and Kentucky in a double dual meet on Friday night in West Lafayette.
Purdue routed Notre Dame, 182.5-117.5, and edged past Kentucky, 158-142. The Wildcats swept up the other two wins, beating ND by a 186.5-113.5 margin. Kentucky’s men topped Purdue, 178-22.
Purdue’s freestyles did a lot of the damage. Hannah Hill won the 50 free in 22.73 seconds. Lara Phipps went 49.80 to handle the field in the 100 free by more than a second. The Boilermakers consolidated their lead late with Adele Sands (4:50.57) and Reagan Mattice (4:50.78) going 1-2 in the 500 free. Mattice had been third in the 1,000. Kate Mouser was also second in the 200 free.
Purdue began the day by winning the 400 medley relay by .42 seconds, Phipps on the anchor. Abby Marcukaitis led off that quartet, then won the 100 back in 52.82 and was third in the 200 back. It was Marcukaitis’ first time under 53 seconds lifetime, putting her third in program history and within a tenth of the team record. Masy Folcik was second in the 100 breast and third in the 200 breast.
Purdue dominated diving, with 1-2-3 sweeps in both. Daryn Wright claimed 3-meter, and Avery Worobel prevailed on 1-meter. Wright’s score of 373.43 is seventh-highest in Purdue history. Campbell Scofield won the 200 fly in 1:58.07, the fifth-best time in program history. Phipps was second in the 100 fly.
Kentucky’s win was powered by a Bridget Engel breaststroke sweep. She went 1:00.89 to win the 100 and 2:13.71 in the 200. Grace Frericks went 1:55.43 to win the 200 back, in a 1-2 with teammate Paige Taber. Lydia Hanlon’s time of 53.75 captured the 100 fly.
Notre Dame freshman Carli Cronk set a best time in the 400 IM of 4:11.55 that moves her into fourth in Fightin’ Irish history. Her winning time in the 200 free of 1:46.51 is eighth in program history.
Notre Dame started with a pair of event wins, with Maggie Graves claiming the 1,000 free before Cronk’s stellar 200 free. The Notre Dame women finished the meet by winning the 200 free relay in 1:30.32. That quartet included 50 free runner-up Katie Drumm and 100 free runner-up/50 free third-place finisher Imogen Meers.
Ryan Merani led Kentucky’s men’s squad. He won the 200 fly in 1:45.28, then the 200 IM in 1:47.09. Merani was also second in the 100 fly and swam fly on the Wildcats’ winning 400 medley relay. That quartet included 100 back winner Devin Naoroz, 100 breast champ Adomas Gatulis and 100 free champ Ryan Peresse, who also finished third in the 50 behind teammate Max Berg, the runner-up in the 100 free.
Kentucky also had depth in the distance events. Carson Hick won the 500 free ahead of Levi Sandidge, the winner of the 1,000 free. Szymon Mieczkowski won the 200 back, and Jonathan Rom won the 200 breast. Sam Duncan scored a notable win for the Wildcats by scoring 357.45 to win 1-meter diving. He beat Jordan Rzepka, who then scored 408.15 to edge Duncan on 3-meter.
Despite the loss, Brady Samuels had a big day for Purdue. He went 1:33.74 to win the 200 free and move into second place in program history in the event. Samuels also won the 100 fly in 46.17 and went 42.46 off the front of the winning 400 free relay.
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