Results
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Fighting Illini women's swimming and diving team set off on the road for the first time this season, as the team faced off against Michigan State on Friday, October 20. The Illini came up short to the Spartans, 162-136, to fall to 1-1 on the season.
"We dug ourselves into a big hole through the first seven events," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "The team responded through the second half of the meet, but it was too late. Depth was going to be very important for us to be successful. We won the majority of the events, but did not capitalize on our chances."
Despite coming up short in the first event of the night, the Illini followed by winning the next three events, including the 1000 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Sophomore Monica Guyett got things started for the Orange and Blue, finishing with a 1000 freestyle time of 10:25.70. Senior Samantha Stratford earned the victory in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 1:49.60, while freshman Michelle McCord won the 100 breaststroke with a time of :56.41.
Stratford and McCord weren't done contributing for the Illini, as the two swimmers each won two more events on the evening. Stratford earned the top time in the 100 freestyle (:50.86), as well as the 500 freestyle (5:02.97). McCord paced all swimmers in the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley, finishing with times of 2:04.06 and 2:07.10, respectively.
Senior Ashley Aegerter and junior Megan Vuong also earned top times. Aegerter finished with the top 200 breaststroke time of 2:20.75, while Vuong touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly, swimming a time of :55.67.
"We have to continue to put the work in each day," Novitsky said. "Even more so, we have to be diligent with our habits and attitude each day. As coaches, we are seeing good things in practice and now we need to carry that effort and aggressiveness into our competitions."
ON THE BOARDS
Junior Madeline Kuhn was the lone diver to compete for the Illini, earning top-three finishes in both 1-meter and 3-meter competition. The Bloomington, Illinois, native posted a 1-meter score of 250.87 to place second in the event. She also came away with the third best 3-meter score of 267.60.
NEXT UP
Following Friday's meet, the Illini will be back in the pool on Friday, October 27, as the team welcomes both Rutgers and Northwestern to the ARC Pool. Meet competition is set for 3 p.m.
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