West Lafayette, Ind. – The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team concluded their regular season on Saturday, coming up short to Big Ten opponent Purdue, 188-111. This brings Illinois final regular season record to 5-4 and drops their Big Ten record to 1-2 on the season. Taylor Shegos marked her return to the boards with a NCAA Zone qualifying dive in the one-meter.

"This was a very competitive meet from start to finish," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "On the boards, the divers have been working hard on their lists. It was great to see Taylor Shegos back and qualifying for NCAA Zones. In the pool there were many close races that came down to the final stroke. It was good to see the team working and staying strong to the end."

Once again, the Fighting Illini were led by senior Abigail Cabush and sophomore Cara Bognar. The pair each picked up two first place finishes apiece. Cabush in the 200 freestyle (1:50.14) and the 100 freestyle (51.16), and Bognar in the 1000 freestyle (10:17.64) and 500 freestyle (5:04.71). 

Despite not securing the win in today's meet, Illinois once again recorded many personal and college best times in today's meet. Junior Jeanri Buys clocked a prsonal best in the 1000 freestyle (10:41.87), junior Lizzie Gile recorded a college-best time of 1:59.69 in the 200 freestyle, sophomore Meghan Niziolek recorded a college-best time of 10:42.80 in the 1000 freestyle, and finally, freshman Sydney Stoll recorded her college best in the 100 back with a time of 56.95

Illinois (5-4) grabbed second place in both of today's relay events. The team of Salafatinos, Kale, Cabush, and Yetter took second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:44.48, with Stoll, Lynch, Kuehne, and Bludgen finishing close behind with a time of 1:45.16, good for third. In the 400 freestyle relay, the team composed of Cabush, Bludgen, Yetter, and Guerra also placed second, with a time of 3:28.89.

ON THE BOARDS

Saturday marked senior Taylor Shegos return to the boards after a long 14 month battle with injury. Shegos returned to practice last week but did not compete until today's competition with Purdue. In her return, she scored the highest of the Illini divers in the 1-meter competition with a score of 276.60, good for fourth place. Sophomore Taylor Michael put up a quality performance in the 3-meter, placing third for the Illini and marking Illinois highest score on the event today (272.78).

NEXT UP

The Illinois diving team will travel to the University of Illinois, Chicago next Saturday to compete in the UIC Diving Invitational. The Orange and Blue swimmers do not compete again until the Big Ten Championships being held in Madison from 2/16-2/19.

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