WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -

Day One Results  

The University of Wyoming swimming and diving teams wrapped up the first day of the Purdue Invitational on Friday evening. Emily Ridout brought home a victory and the second-fastest time in school history in the 50 freestyle to lead Wyoming, while Kelly Sheldon had the seventh-best time for UW in the 500 freestyle.

Through the first day and 12 events, the Pokes are second only behind host Purdue with 182 points, while the Cowgirls sit in third place with 143 total points.

"Kelly (Sheldon) had a great swim and looked as good as she has ever been," head coach Tom Johnson said. "Molly (Coonce) and Emily (Stucky) looked excellent in the 200 IM as well. Molly had a personal best, which is great for her at this point. The highlight may have been Emily (Ridout) winning the 50 free. That was her best time and looked just as good if not better then at the conference meet a year ago. I was very proud of the way she was able to compete for us today."

Ridout recorded a time of 22.66 in the 50 free to claim her first victory of the weekend at the invitational. It was an NCAA "B" Cut mark. Kelly Sheldon's seventh-fastest mark in the 500 free was with a time of 4:53.55. She finished 14th in the event for Wyoming.

"I think the 200 free relay group did a great job, we have some turns to work on," Johnson added. "We definitely showed against some great competition how different our walls were. Ryan Ball in the 500 free had another tremendous performance and I was pleased with how Ryan (Nelson) finished the day. Our guys raced hard in the 200 IM, it seemed like they were struggling a bit but they worked through it and did just fine. It was a pretty good day for us. We know there is always something to improve on and we will look to do that tomorrow."

Ryan Ball took third in the 500 free with a final time of 4:30.87 with Ryan Nelson taking sixth in the event with a mark of 4:32.49. Eric Oleson touched the pads in 4:32.83 to finish the 500 free one spot behind Nelson. Bryce Carter finished sixth in the 50 free with a final time of 20.51, while fellow Poke Kyle White swam a 20.66 to claim seventh in the event. Wade Nelson claimed eighth in the 200 IM for the men. He marked a time of 1:51.20, as Kyle Scalise finished 14th with a 1:51.17.

Danielle Badger had a solid evening by finishing seventh in the 50 free with a mark of 23.48. Isobel Ryan claimed ninth, while Samantha Burke finished 12th for the Cowgirls in the event. Molly Coonce and Emily Stucky finished in 13th and 14th, respectively in the 200 IM. Coonce swam a personal best 2:03.97, while Stucky came in at 2:04.65 in the event.

Austin Rettinghouse finished third in the 1-meter diving competition for the Pokes. Jacob Rehmeier claimed fifth in the event on Friday evening. Kari Campbell was the top-finisher for the Cowgirls on the 3-meter. She took fifth place, with Keely Bishop and Ashleigh Dehls claiming seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the second event on the afternoon, the Cowboys took third place in the 200 free relay. Kyle White, Liam Metzsch, David Murphy and Bryce Carter finished with a final time of 1:21.36. A team of Abby Sullivan, Maria Harutjunjan, Coonce and Ridout took third in the 400 medley relay. They finished with a time of 3:42.04 for Wyoming.

The second day of the Invitational continues tomorrow morning. The top 32 swimmers in the prelims of each event will qualify for the evening finals. Those in the top 16 will account for team points in the A and B finals. The top eight divers in the prelims of the springboard events will advance to the finals. Relays are finals-only events in the evening sessions.