2022 Purdue Invite: Gabi Albiero Posts 51.1 in the 100 BF, Two Other Cardinals Go 51

PURDUE INVITE 2022

• November 16-18, 2022
• Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Live Results (Link is down, but live results are currently available on MeetMobile)

TEAMS

• Cal Baptist
• Florida International (women only)
• Illinois State (women only)
• Louisville
• Marshall (women only)
• Missouri State
• Northwestern
• Purdue
• Southern Illinois
• U.S. Naval Academy (men only)

THURSDAY FINALS RESULTS

The second night of the 2022 Purdue Invite is in the books, seeing Louisville expand their lead in the women’s team scoring, while Purdue has closed the gap on the Cardinals in the men’s meet. Heading into the final day of the meet, Louisville is set for a women’s victory, but the Boilermakers now sit just 12 points behind the Cardinals on the men’s side, making it anybody’s meet.

Impressively, Louisville started the finals session out by going 1-2 in the women’s 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ relay saw Abby Hay (24.42), Cecilla Viberg (26.55), Christiana Regenauer (22.93), and Gabi Albiero (21.11) team up for a 1:35.01. That time came in well under the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:36.24, marking another ‘A’ standard for the Cardinal women. The ‘B’ of Tristen Ulett (25.01), Ella Welch (26.87), Karoline Barrett (23.17), and Julia Dennis (21.96) combined for a 1:37.01, coming in under the NCAA ‘B’ cut. Notably, teams are only allowed one scoring relay, so the ‘B’ relay officially swam exhibition, though they still finished second regardless.

Northwestern finished third, swimming a 1:37.29, but had a sizzling breast split of 25.79 from Jasmine Nocentini.

Nocentini would go on to win the women’s 100 breast in 58.47, touching first by 1.3 seconds. Her performance came after swimming a massive new personal best of 58.31 in prelims this morning. Interestingly, Nocentini split 27.45 on the first 50 of the race. Given her 25.79 split on the medley relay this at the beginning of the session, it would seem Nocentini could potentially take the 100 out faster than she did tonight.

Louisville had probably their strongest showing of the night in the women’s 100 fly final, where the Cardinals had the top four finishers. Gabi Albiero led the way, swimming a 51.18. The time was just off the ‘A’ cut of 50.92. Christiana Regenauer swam a 51.62 for second place, followed by Tristen Ulett in 51.95. There was a gap between third and fourth, as Karoline Barrett swam a 53.08.

The Louisville women would go on to post a 1-2 finish in the 800 free relay as well. The ‘A’ relay of Tristen Ulett (1:46.74), Paige Hetrick (1:45.63), Gabi Albiero (1:46.14), and Christiana Regenauer (1:47.31) clocked a 7:05.82. Importantly, that time dipped just under the NCAA ‘B’ cut of 7:05.88. That matters because Louisville already has multiple ‘A’ cuts in other relays, so once they achieve an ‘A’ cut in an individual race, the Cardinals will be eligible to swim all relays at the NCAA Championships, provided they have a ‘B’ cut in the event.

Louisville’s ‘B’ team swam a 7:18.96, finishing second.

Purdue had a 1-2 finish of their own in the men’s 800 free relay, helped in part by a Louisville DQ. The ‘A’ relay of Nick Sherman (1:33.99), Connor McCarthy (1:37.46), Brady Samuels (1:34.73), and Jude Wenker (1:38.48) teamed up for a 6:24.66. Sherman’s lead-off split was just off his personal best of 1:33.81. Also of note, the 800 free relay was Samuels’ fourth race of the finals session and his sixth of the day, making his 1:34.73 rather impressive. That’s a positive sign for the Boilermakers, since it would stand to reason that Samuels could be faster at the Big Ten Championships at the end of the season given that the 800 free relay takes place on the first night of the meet, so he’ll be fresher for it.

Samuels was huge for Purdue all night. He started out his session by splitting 20.37 on the fly leg of Purdue’s ‘A’ 200 medley relay, marking the fastest fly split in the field. Louisville won the relay, as Dalton Lowe (21.37), Denis Petrashov (23.36), Haridi Sameh (20.77), and Michael Eastman (19.02) swam a 1:24.52.

Samuels went on to win two individual events on the night as well. He won a tight race in the men’s 100 fly final, swimming a 46.17. Samuels built a small early lead on the first 50, splitting 21.24, then held off Navy’s Jonah Harm on the second 50. Harm ended up second in 46.19.

Samuels then won the men’s 100 back in a new personal best of 46.36. He came into the meet with a best of 46.68, then swam a 46.43 in prelims before clocking his 46.36 tonight.

The hosting Boilermakers had a terrific night on the boards as well, going 1-2 in both events. In women’s 1-meter, Sophia McAfee posted a score of 305.05, beating out teammate Daryn Wright (293.75). Men’s 3-meter saw Jordan Rzepka finish 36 points ahead of the field with a score of 375.85. Sam Bennett came in second with a score of 339.55.

Southern Illinois picked up a win on the day, as Celia Pulido posted a 52.57 to win the women’s 100 back handily. She had put the race away by the halfway point, flipping in 25.28, well ahead of everyone else in the field.

Northwestern also had a win on the day. Kevin Houseman swam a 51.83 to win the men’s 100 breast handily.

OTHER EVENT WINNERS

• Women’s 400 IM: Paige Kuwata (Louisville) – 4:14.73
• Men’s 400 IM: Tyler Lu (Northwestern) – 3:50.46
• Women’s 200 free: Paige Hetrick (Louisville) – 1:45.95
• Men’s 200 free: Denis Loktev (Louisville) – 1:34.38

TEAM SCORES (THROUGH THURSDAY)

WOMEN

1. Louisville – 655
2. Northwestern – 464.5
3. Purdue – 357.5
4. Florida International – 316
5. Missouri State – 203
6. Marshall – 138.5
7. Cal Baptist – 119.5
8. Illinois State – 111
9. Southern Illinois – 99

MEN

1. Louisville – 551.5
2. Purdue – 539.5
3. Northwestern – 337.5
4. Cal Baptist – 326
5. Missouri State – 226.5
6. Navy – 193
7. Southern Illinois – 102