Feb. 6, 2010

Final Stats

MINNEAPOLIS - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team concluded competition at the Minnesota Challenge on a high note, highlighted by Britni Fisher, who moved up to third in school history in the three-meter dive with a first-place score of 297.60.

"This was a very nice weekend," diving coach Chris Waters said. "People let their training come through and didn't stress. They just competed and had fun. It was the best I have seen Britni (Fisher) compete in a bigger meet and that experience will help in the coming weeks."

Also on the boards, Tessa Adams earned a second-place finish in the one-meter dive with a score of 249.20. Courtney Spivak led the way for the swimmers, setting lifetime bests in the 200 fly (2:14.38) and 200 free (2:00.30), while Morgan Gilman was the top finisher for the Illini in the 100 fly (59.24), 100 back (1:01.01), and 200 back (2:11.44), and Sara Stoneburg was the top finisher for the team in the 100 free (53.66) and 200 free (1:58.38).

"I thought overall we came back and competed well today," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "I asked them to do a lot of races in two days and they were up to the challenge. Courtney continued to have an outstanding meet and all of her swims, except for one, were lifetime-best times. Morgan Gilman competed in a full slate and registered some lifetime best swims and stayed strong and determined the whole weekend. The weekend was full of good racing and it was satisfying to see them carry over many of the details that we have been working on into a competition."

The Orange and Blue will take a week off before heading to West Lafayette, Ind., for the Big Ten Championships, Feb. 17-20.