RESULTS (PDF)

MIAMI, Fla. – The Fighting Illini Swimming and Diving team was back in the pool for a two-day meet against Florida International with action opening on Friday (Nov. 6) evening and concluding on Saturday (Nov. 7) afternoon. The Illini earned a narrow 197-174 victory to improve to 7-1 on the season. With the victory, UI snapped FIU's fifteen regular season dual-meet win streak and handed the Panthers their first home loss since the 2012-13 campaign.

"This meet was a great test for our team," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "Florida International competed very strong and really pushed us on both days.  We swam solid on the first day, but were not very sharp on our details and that cost us some opportunities."

"After the first day we were down 15 points and had some work to do in order to get ourselves back into the meet," continued Novitsky. "We talked about ignoring those little annoyances, such as pain and soreness, that can distract you and draw you away from your purpose and the team's purpose.  We wanted them to be scrappy, stay in the moment, be relentless and get to the next wall."

Following FIU victories in the first two events, sophomore Samantha Stratford earned a first place finish in the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.26. Stratford also won the 200 IM (2:03.25) and the 400 IM (4:25.15), giving her thirteen first-place finishes in her fifteen individual events on the season.

Ashley Aegerter picked up a victory for the Illini in the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.00. Four events later, the Illini relay team of Sloane McDermott, Stratford, Lori Lynn, and Megan Vuong earned another victory for Illinois with a first place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:49.41.

Other first place finishes included Jennifer Coady in the 100 breast (1:05.43), Megan Vuong in the 100 free (51.90), Gabbie Stecker in the 200 breast (2:04.96), Lori Lynn in the 200 fly (55.93), and the relay team of Bethke, Vuong, Lynn, and Zborek in the 200 free relay (1:35.28).

On the boards, senior Jessica Clifford earned a second-place finish in the 1-meter diving competition (263.25), while junior Olivia Kassouni finished third in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Madeline Kuhn picked up a couple points for Illinois on the platform with a mark of 174.25.

"We executed much better [on Saturday] and showed a terrific fight from start to finish," said Novitsky. "Our divers were big for us today and competed very strong as a group. Multiple swimmers stepped up all through the event list.  I am very proud of the effort over the past two days and I am looking forward to building on this experience."

The Illini will be back in action on Friday, November 20, for The Big Challenge. Meet competition will begin at 10 a.m. CT in Topeka, Kansas.

First Place Finishers

200 fly – Stratford – 2:01.26

200 breast – Aegerter – 2:21.00

200 IM – Stratford – 2:03.25

400 medley relay – McDermott, Stratford, Lynn, Vuong – 3:49.41

100 breast – Coady – 1:05.43

100 free – Vuong - :51.90

200 back – Stecker – 2:04.96

100 fly – Lynn - :55.93

400 IM – Stratford – 4:25.15

200 free relay – Bethke, Vuong, Lynn, Zborek – 1:35.74