The men won the match by a 24-point margin with a 162-138 score. The women’s team survived the Boilermakers by only four points, winning 151.5-147.5. Although IU was able to walk out with the victory, Coach Ray Looze said he was not happy with how the meet started off.
“We started off flat, for the women after the break we had no margin for error,” Looze said. “They won every race after that.”
After falling behind early, the women were in a dog fight to catch back up. Going into the final race, the Hoosiers were down by five points and really had to perform well in order to pull out the victory.
“We really did it to ourselves,” Looze said. “We dug ourselves a hole.”
The final race of the meet was the 400 freestyle relay. Juniors Brooklyn Snodgrass and Haley Lips, freshman Kennedy Goss and senior Cynthia Pammett came through for IU as they swam a time of 3:22.36 to take first place.
The second relay team consisted of all freshmen. Kaitlin Kitchens, Ali Rockett, Gabriela Rajic and Delaney Barnard finished in 3:24.68 to claim third place and help claim the overall victory. Before the match, Looze said how important it was to get those second and third-place finishes.
“If it wasn’t for those we would have not been able to win the match,” Looze said.
Although the men’s team went into the final race with an 11-point lead, they started the match off behind as well. The meet started with the 200 medley in which both the men and women finished second.
“We lost the first relay, and we should have won that,” Looze said. “We gave some things away that we probably shouldn’t have.”
The men walked away with eight first-place finishes out of 16 events, and the women had a total of nine. Going into the competition, Looze said he was expecting the women to do well in the butterfly. Sophomore Gia Dalesandro ended up placing first in the 200 butterfly.
“For the most part, the events we were supposed to do well in, we did a good job,” Looze said. “They got some upset victories. Every time we go to Lafayette, Purdue brings their A game.”
The next matchup for the men will be in Columbus, Ohio, to compete against the Buckeyes on Saturday, Jan. 31. The women will be at home Friday, Jan. 30, as they host a dual meet against Louisville.
“I’m really proud of the women, probably the biggest comeback in our team’s history,” Looze said. “We can’t play this way against Louisville Friday. We have to start off sharper.”
