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Men's swimming comes up short against Purdue

Jordan Rinard, Senior Staff Writer

After starting off the season with two wins, the Miami University men's swimming and diving team suffered its first loss Friday night when it fell to Purdue University (4-1, 2-1 Big Ten) 145.5-151.5. The RedHawks (2-1) will not compete again until Dec. 5 when they will host the Miami Invitational.

The team recorded seven victories in the 16 events against the Boilermakers, with six of them coming from senior Joe Baumgartner, sophomore Evan Bader and freshman Grant Stafford. They were responsible for two wins each.

Baumgartner recorded a victory in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 46.50 and contributed to a first place finish along with senior Michael Cavanaugh, senior Dan Nemeth and sophomore Jake Prodoehl in the freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.48.

Bader earned wins in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke with times of 57.45 and 2:06.89, respectively.

Stafford triumphed in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:51.62 and in the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 4:42.91.

Also contributing to the cause for the 'Hawks was sophomore Heshan Unamboowe, who picked up the other win for the RedHawks with a victory in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:57.47.

"We swam pretty well," head coach Pete Lindsay said. "There were some good races. There were 12-13 races that were decided by less than a half second... I was pleased with the meet. We have the Miami Invitational coming up after Thanksgiving break and we typically have some pretty good times there."

The performances would not be enough for Miami, however, as Purdue entered the meet with a 32-6 advantage following the diving events Oct. 18 in Oxford, an advantage the RedHawks could not recover from.

"The team as a whole had a solid performance," Stafford said. "For this time in the season, our times are right where they should be... I was only two seconds off my personal best in the 200, which is a great time for right now. Purdue has a very strong team, and we held our ground appropriately. This coming winter, we are planning on putting our nose to the grindstone in preparation for the [Mid-American Conference] Championships in March. We have a good freshman class, and we believe that the team can place very high this year."


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