Jarzen sets pool records; men beat Purdue

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In the MSU men’s swimming and diving 164.5-135.5 victory over Purdue on Saturday, there was no doubt sophomore Jacob Jarzen was the star of the show at McCaffree Pool at IM Sports-West.

Ranked No. 22 nationally in the 100-yard backstroke, Jarzen was ahead of the pack in the event and finished at 49.04.

With that time, he broke his own pool record, which stood at 49.60 from last season.

“(Jarzen) is the one that really stands out,” head coach Matt Gianiodis said. “Anytime you set a pool record, it’s a big deal.”

Jarzen also took first in his two other individual events — the 200-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly — and in the 200-yard medley relay.

“As the meet went on, I got a little tired, but I still did a pretty good job,” Jarzen said. “Four for four — not bad.”

With a time of 1:30.82, the medley relay team of Jarzen, senior Kevin Puskaric, sophomore Josh Geschwendt and freshman Brandon Williams opened the men’s races with a victory.

Puskaric joined Jarzen in winning with his respective 100-yard breaststroke with 55.57 and the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:00.68.

Senior Richard Forrest took first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.75.

Falling short, the women’s team was defeated, 168-126, by the Boilermakers, but junior Kerry Sodonis still views her team’s performance positively.

Sodonis — who took first in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:05.42 and second in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:20.42 — said she made significant progress from the beginning of the season.

“I think we did a really good job, especially coming off such a hard couple weeks of training,” Sodonis said. “We’ve been working really hard the whole season, and it’s been showing.”

Closing out the meet, the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of freshman Summer Strickler, sophomore Jenny Rusch and juniors Tori Merritt and Morgan Piasecki took first.

It looked like the men’s relay team was going to follow, but, to Gianiodis’ disappointment, the Spartans fell short, taking second and third places.

“I was really disappointed in how we finished that,” Gianiodis said. “I thought we could (have) finished a little stronger, and so I was really disappointed.

Both Spartan teams said they’re pleased with their performances.

Looking forward to upcoming meets, Jarzen noted specific areas where the team can improve.

“I think we can improve a bit on our short free because that’s our weak point in the Big Ten,” he said. “(If we do,) we’ll have a well-rounded team.”

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