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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 18 • 27 BY TRAVIS BAUGH TBaugh@Purdue.edu C oach Dan Ross was encouraged by his men's swimming and diving team's performance in a nar- row senior day loss to No. 9 Indiana Saturday. Although Indiana edged Purdue 162-138, the Boilermakers won as many events as their in- state counterparts (eight) and came as close to defeating the Hoosiers as they have in five years. "They had a little more depth in a couple events, which just crushed us," Ross said. "We were hoping to come out with a win, but our guys really battled really well. There's no such thing as a moral victory and everyone wants to come out with a win, but you have to measure your team one race at a time, one guy at a time. I couldn't be prouder for the most part there." Indiana has dominated the in- state rivalry recently, winning the last four dual meets between the schools, including by a margin of vic - tory of 66.5 points in 2013 and 2014. Breastroker Lyam Dias said it was a confidence booster to go down to the wire with the Hoo- siers, considering the recent series history and Indiana's ranking, the second-highest of the six Big Ten schools in the Top 25. "I think we shocked them a lot," Dias said. "They didn't expect us to go that fast. To be this close to beat- ing them is really, really good and has us looking forward to scoring a lot of points at the Big Tens." A pair of seniors put on strong showings in their final meet in the Boilermaker Aquatic Center to lead the Boilermakers. Guillermo Blanco won three events, emerging victorious in the 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley. Dias swept the breaststroke events with a first- place finish 100 and 200. The pair teamed up with Austin Flager and Stephen Seliskar to capture the 200 medley relay with their top time of the season (1:29.66). "I was really proud of the way they raced," Ross said. "Guillermo has really been through a lot since he's been to Purdue and he seems to be really focused and a new guy now. I'm really hoping Lyam can finish off his season strong as well." In the week leading up to the meet, Dias was unsure if he would be able to com - pete due to a stomach flu. He felt good enough to perform, though, a relief after his par- ents traveled from Ontario for their first dual meet of his Purdue career. "It was really, really spe- cial," Dias said. "It was cool to get them to experience everything I've been experi- encing for the past four years. They were really happy to see it and to have them down on deck and get- ting recognized with me was a re- ally good time." Dias and teammate Marat Amaltdinov went 1-2 in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, providing 26 criti- cal points early in the meet. "I was really happy with the way Marat and I performed," Dias said. "Going 1-2 in both events was really something special, especially for my last meet. I didn't expect to get the win in the 200 at all. It was a good way to go out." In just his second meet of the season, Flager won the 50 free sprint with a Purdue season-best time of 20.42. In the 100 free, his time of 45.76 was the best time all season by a Boiler- maker and was good for a fourth-place finish. Ross has been pleased with Flager's progression af- ter he was academically ineli- gible last semester. "We probably don't win that medley relay without (Flager)," Ross said. "He wins the 50 and we didn't know what was going to happen in that. That was huge. He kept us in the meet. "His teammates are like 'Hey, we have Austin back, we're in pretty good shape here.' I think that put a little pep in those guys' steps." Purdue's divers out - scored Indiana's 20-18 in a battle of the two best diving teams in the conference. Steele Johnson finished first in platform diving, edg- ing out James Connor, who com- peted for Austrailia in the 2012 Olympics. Johnson finished second in 1-meter diving behind reigning NCAA champion Michael Hixon with a score of 395.85, the third- best score in program history. "If you look at the meet from a diving standpoint, there might be three people from that dual POSITIVE SIGNS Men's swimming and diving show promise in narrow loss to No. 9 Indiana Purdue Guillermo Blanco won three events in his final meet at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Purdue Racing in front of his parents for the first time at Purdue, Lyam Dias won the 100 and 200 breaststroke.