Final Results 

Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team played host to Michigan State and Marshall on Friday, October 21, at the ARC Pool. The meet marked the start of the regular season for Illinois, as the team earned victories over both the Spartans (152-148) and the Thundering Herd (167-133).

"I saw a team fight from the start to the finish," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "We got off to a little bit of a slow start. It was the first meet, so we had to get ourselves going. Once we got it going, there was tremendous fight throughout."

Illinois got off to a slow start, winning just four out of the first ten events. Senior Amelia Schilling got the Illini on the board in the second event of the night, touching the wall first in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:20.00. Senior Gabbie Stecker followed that up by winning the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:52.36, while junior Samantha Stratford finished first in the 200 butterfly (2:02.49) a few events later.

The team picked up momentum after freshman Kristin Anderson had an impressive showing in the 100 freestyle, finishing first with a time of :51.94. Following Anderson's first-place finish, the Illini won five out of the last seven events, highlighted by two more wins by Stratford in the 100 butterfly (:55.72) and 200 individual medley (2:02.31).

The Illini were in a close fight with Michigan State until the final event of the night, the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Anderson, Megan Vuong, Audrey Rodawig and Stecker helped the Illini squeeze out a narrow victory, finishing first with a time of 1:35.48.

Other first place finishers included junior Ashley Aegerter in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:21.15 and Stecker in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:02.24.

On the Boards

In one-meter diving competition, sophomore Madeline Kuhn scored a 242.40, which placed her fourth overall. Freshmen Lauren LaPeter and Morgan Young made their debuts in the Orange and Blue, finishing with scores of 184.30 and 161.50, respectively.

Three-meter diving was much of the same, as Kuhn finished fifth with a score of 245.00, while LaPeter (205.90) placed seventh and Young (175.30) placed tenth.

Next Up

The Illini will have a quick turn around, as the team welcomes Illinois State and Southern Illinois on Saturday, October 22. Meet competition will begin at noon at the ARC Pool.