Jan. 19, 2013

Complete Results

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team fell to 2-3 on the season after losing to Iowa, 196-102, on Saturday afternoon at the ARC Pool. The Orange and Blue secured three first-place finishes during Splash Bash 2013.

"You have to be able to come back session to session because this is what we are going to be doing at the Big Ten Championships," Illini head coach Sue Novitsky said. "You have to learn how to manage that feeling and know that you can break through. I thought we got better at that as the meet went on, but early on, we were definitely not as sharp as we should have been. We can't control what Iowa did, and we just need to do a better job of getting ourselves ready."

The Illini captured two individual first-place finishes, including sophomore Alison Meng in the 100 back (57.10) and senior Kathleen Knight in the 200 fly (2:04.68). The team of junior Courtney Pope, senior Erin Lamb and sophomores Meng and Megan Marchuk also claimed a first-place finish after clocking a 3:30.00 in the 400 free relay.

"Meng had a good day in the 100 back again, and she was able to step up for us," Novitsky said. "And being able to finish out the meet with a win in the relay is something positive that we can take away from this competition."

Five Illini swimmers finished second, including junior Erica Lynn in the 100 breast (1:06.70) and 200 breast (2:20.77), junior Jessica Holz in the 200 back (2:05.28), Marchuk in the 500 free (5:08.79) and Knight in the 100 fly (57.24). The 200 medley relay team of Meng, Erica Lynn, Knight and Pope also secured a second-place finish.

Capturing third-place finishes for the Orange and Blue were freshman Lori Lynn in the 200 back (2:06.08) and 200 IM (2:09.43), junior Alyssa Toland in the 1000 free (10:34.73) and Meng in the 100 fly (57.81).

A total of seven Illini swimmers placed fourth, including Lamb in the 200 free (1:54.56), junior Cara Chuang in the 100 back (58.80), senior Sarah Coady in the 100 breast (1:08.14), senior Kim Kalenda in the 50 free (24.83), Pope in the 100 free (53.07), senior Alyssa Petruzzello in the 100 fly (58.57) and senior Erin Rodriguez in the 200 IM (2:10.71).

On the boards, senior Keri Eberhardt claimed second place in the three-meter dive (279.07), while senior Darragh McDermott (4th, 263.25) and sophomore Emily Fung (5th, 246.07) also earned points in the event. In the one-meter dive, McDermott finished in fourth place (277.79) while sophomore Erika Murphy took fifth (267.29).

The Orange and Blue will return to action against the Nebraska Cornhuskers next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT at the ARC Pool.