Jan. 17, 2004

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The Fighting Illini didn't have enough today to overcome two nationally ranked opponents as they fell to No. 16 Michigan 243-127 and No. 21 Notre Dame 197-173 in the Michigan Invitational. If facing two ranked opponents wasn't enough, the Illini also was facing a difficult turnaround after returning just from Hawaii earlier in the week. With that aside, Illinois managed to turn in one of their better performances of the season and looks to be ready for Big Ten competition that lies ahead.

"It was a great two days of competition for our team, especially with the breakout and record performances we had," Head Coach Sue Novitsky. "We are a little disappointed in the outcome with Notre Dame, but all we can do is keep moving forward and start preparing for Ohio State and Iowa next weekend."

Following great performances in day one and holding a 66-44 lead over Notre Dame, Illinois got off to a slow start in the morning session. Notre Dame jumped ahead of the Illini in the morning session with a 132-126 lead after 14 events. The Illini responded though with strong performances from Ilkay Dikmen and Kirsten Koepcke in the evening session to keep it close.

Dikmen set a Turkey National Record by winning the 200 breast in a time of 2:30.37, which also ranks as a personal lifetime best and is a NCAA "B" standard qualifying time. Koepcke felt like breaking records as well, as she finished third in the 1500 free swimming to a time of 17:01.65, which is a school record.

Also in the evening session Barbie Viney displayed a lot of determination as she had raced a lot in the two days of competition and clearly was tired, but provided the Illini with a gutsy third place performance in the 100 free with a time of 57.76.

In the morning session, Dikmen won the 100 breast in a time of 1:10.59, which was her second "B" qualifying time of the day. In the 400 IM, Crystal McAdam and Kirsten Koepcke finished fourth and fifth with times of 4:57.74 and 5:04.85 respectively. Christina Brunka had a good showing, finishing third in the 100 fly in a time of 1:04.88.

The relays, which have been a strong area for the Illini so far this season, continued that trend today finishing second in both the 200 medley and 400 free relay's. The team for the 200 medley was Brunka, Dikmen, McAdam, and Meghan Farrell who swam to a time of 1:58.08. In the 400 free, the group of Viney, Brunka, Koepcke, and Farrell fell just short to Michigan's "A" team with a time of 3:56.11.

Lisa Fish had a career day in the 3-meter dive as she finished an impressive thrid place on a school record score 301.72. It is Fish's second school record she has set this season. Jackie Bain finished ninth with a respectable score of 223.27.

Fish didn't have the same success in the 1-meter finishing seventh with a score of 234.97. Bain placed 10th with a score of 214.20.

The Illini return to action next weekend as they travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State and Iowa in a dual meet, Saturday, January 24. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. EST.