Final Results | Novitsky Interview | Meng Interview

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team was back in action on Saturday morning after beating Iowa State on Friday evening. Illinois welcomed Iowa to the ARC Pool for the Orange and Blue's first dual with a Big Ten opponent this season. The Hawkeyes came away with a 165-135 win over the host Illini.

"Iowa is a strong team," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "They are ranked in the top-25, and we knew that coming in. One of the things we were trying to keep working on is staying calm. You don't have to be overly exceptional because when you try to do that you tighten up. We had some tight moments, but I thought as the meet went along we started to loosen up a little bit. We were in a lot of those races. It was just a couple tenths of a second either way that could make a big swing. I was proud of the way they hung in there."

The Illini began the day with a win the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Alison Meng, Samantha Stratford, Lori Lynn and Megan Marchuk took the win with a time of 1:44.59, edging Iowa's team that swam 1:44.62. Victories by Gabbie Stecker in the 200 free (1:52.28) and Meng in the 100 back (55.99) gave Illinois wins in three of the first four events, but Iowa would win the next five events to establish a lead in the team score.

Meng broke the string of Iowa wins with her 200 back victory, clocking 2:03.34, and Lori Lynn added a win in the 100 fly, finishing in 56.93. In the 200 IM, Sam Stratford earned the win with a new pool record, stopping the clock at 2:04.31. Meng, Stecker, Gabrielle Bethke and Marchuk closed out the dual with a win in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:29.95. In total, the Illini won four of the final seven events.

In the three-meter dive, Olivia Kassouni scored 290.02, while Erika Murphy totaled 289.04. Both marks meet the qualifying mark for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships on March 12-14.

"We have to take a couple days and take an objective look at today to see where we need to keep working in the pool," state Novitsky. "It's always a very emotional meet with Iowa, so we need to be able to step back from that and say `How do I handle myself next time' because Nebraska is going to be a very close meet, as well. We're going to be in tight battles, so we need to keep working on maintain our calm, cool and collectiveness so we that we are able to step up and perform as well as I think we are able to."

The Illini will be back at it next Saturday, Jan. 24, when they welcome Nebraska to the ARC Pool. That meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.