Final Results

NORMAL, Ill. - After hosting Northwestern and Rutgers at the ARC Pool on Friday night, the Illinois women's swimming and diving team traveled to Normal, Illinois, on Saturday, October 28, to take on Illinois State and Southern Illinois. The Illini fell to the Red Birds (155-143) and the Salukis (176.50-123.50).

"We were not very sharp at the start of the meet and dug a hole for ourselves," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "Illinois State and Southern Illinois had a great meet and we did not match that level today. As coaches, we felt we needed to put pressure on the team and individuals. If we are going to get better, we have to understand that setbacks are a part of the process. This team is strong and it is not always going to be easy to get better."

The Illini posted top times on the season in three events on the evening, including the 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle. Senior Samantha Stratford secured two of those times with a pool record showing of 2:01.38 in the 200 butterfly, and 4:55.52 in the 500 freestyle, while freshman Michelle McCord touched the wall with the fastest time on the season for the Illini in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.14). Stratford also won the 200 individual medley with a pool record time of 2:03.28. 

Junior Megan Vuong and sophomore Kristin Anderson also won events for the Illini. Vuong finished with the top time in the 50 freestyle with a time of :24.52, while Anderson paced all swimmers in the 100 freestyle with a time of :53.17.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Curtis, Vuong, Anderson and Stratford came away with the top time in the event, posting a pool record time of 1:35.82. 

ON THE BOARDS

Junior Madeline Kuhn posted a career-best score of 306.75 in 3-meter diving competition to win the event for the Illini. Kuhn also placed third in 1-meter diving with a score of 269.55.

NEXT UP

The Illini will travel south to Miami, Florida, to take on Florida International on November 3. Meet competition is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT.

"The team did a good job staying behind each other," Novitsky said. "The little details that we did not execute well added up fast and hurt us in the end. We need to be more consistent in practice and own those little things. This falls on everyone, coaches and athletes, to hold each other accountable. We have that next level as a team waiting to be released and we just need to let ourselves take that next step."

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