Results (PDF)
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Despite winning four of the meet's last five events, the Fighting Illini fell in dual action to the Iowa Hawkeyes by a final score of 174.5-125.5. The loss is just Illinois' second of the dual season, moving the Orange and Blue to an 8-2 mark. The Hawkeyes improved to 5-2 in dual competition with the victory.
"Even though we came out behind in the points, the team fought hard all the way through the meet," shared Illinois head coach Sue Novitsky. "Many of the races were decided in the last stroke and unfortunately we came out on the losing side in a number of those chances. There were four races where the difference between first and second place was less than two tenths of a second. Iowa really pushed us and that was exactly the type of meet that we needed to be in today. As coaches, we needed to see how the team reacted and responded after the meet against Iowa State. We showed up ready to go to work, fought hard, never gave up and most importantly stayed behind each other."
The Fighting Illini opened the meet with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay, narrowly getting out-touched by two-tenths of a second. The Orange and Blue unit of Sloane McDermott, Jennifer Coady, Lori Lynn and Audrey Rodawig clocked a time of 1:44.88 in the race.
Amelia Schilling and Nelly Casas picked up points for the Illinois squad in the 1000 freestyle race, finishing second and third respectively. Schilling turned in a mark of 10:21.31 and Casas produced a 10:23.80 reading.
In the third event, Illinois cut into the Hawkeyes lead, trimming it to just seven points thanks to a victory by Megan Vuong in the 200 freestyle (1:52.42) and a second place showing by Gabbie Stecker (1:52.53).
The Hawkeyes produced a strong showing in the 100 backstroke, claiming the top four times in the event. McDermott led the Illini with a fifth place finish (:58.20) in the event. Leading 42-27, the Hawkeyes won the 100 breaststroke as well. Coady finished second by just over one-tenth of a second with a mark of 1:04.98.
Lynn, Samantha Stratford and Sarah Sykstus finished second through fourth in the 200 butterfly to make the score 71-41 in favor of Iowa after six events.
Rodawig earned a second place finish in the 100 free, clocking a mark of :51.94, while Stratford finished fourth with a time of :52.43. McDermott posted a second place finish in the next event, clocking a 2:05.19 in the 200 backstroke.
In the 200 breaststroke, Coady turned in a time of 2:22.41 for a runner-up finish. Charli Wike finished third with a mark of 2:22.87. After 11 events, Iowa led 136.5-70.5 over the Orange and Blue.
UI put together back-to-back event victories as Stecker won the 500 freestyle (5:01.92) and Lynn claimed the 100 butterfly with a mark of :56.16. Stratford won the next swimming event, the 200 IM, with a time of 2:04.32. UI closed out the day with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay. The unit of Rodawig, Gabriele Bethke, Stecker and Sykstus posted a time of 3:28.97.
Leading the Illini on the boards was Olivia Kassouni in the one-meter event, posting a score of 249.53 for a second place finish, and Madeline Kuhn in the three-meter dive with a score of 270.08.
Next up for the Fighting Illini is a trip out to Nebraska on Saturday, Jan. 23. The first gun is slated for 11 a.m. CT in the dual action.
"Now we go back to work and clean some things up and take advantage of our next opportunity to compete next weekend," Novitsky said.
Check out FIGHTINGILLINI.com for more information about the Orange and Blue. Additionally, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more coverage.
EVENT WINNERS
200 Free – Megan Vuong – 1:52.42
500 Free – Gabbie Stecker – 5:01.92
100 Fly – Lori Lynn - :56.16
200 IM - Samantha Stratford – 2:04.32
400 Free Relay – Rodawig, Bethke, Stecker, Syskstus – 3:28.07
