Jan. 28, 2011
Results
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After the first day of competition at the Big Ten Quad Duals, the Fighting Illini swimming and diving team trails No. 20 Purdue (160-45), No. 13 Minnesota (170-35) and No. 16 Wisconsin (149-55).
"It was not our best day," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "This is the first time this year that we are going up against teams that we know are very good and we struggled. I think we were trying to do too much, instead of letting ourselves do what we're trained to do. As a team, we're trying to get better and now it's time for us to compete against the next level of competition and believe that we belong and can compete."
Junior Brittany McGowan led the Orange and Blue with a fourth-place finish in the 200 fly (2:05.44), while freshman Cara Chuang captured a sixth-place finish in the 100 back (57.72) and fellow freshman Courtney Pope finished seventh in the 1000 free (10:29.42).
In the 800 free relay, the team of sophomore Erin Lamb, senior Meghan Mason, junior April McKee and Pope finished in fifth place, clocking in at 7:35.81.
On the boards, sophomore Darragh McDermott posted personal-best scores in the one-meter (240.10) and three-meter (231.70) dives.
"As a team, we're going to try to come back tomorrow and learn from today," Novitsky said. "It's about learning how to stay calm. When you can remain calm, you can learn to become a better athlete."
The Orange and Blue will return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT. Live results will be available . For complete results and recap of the final day of action, visit fightingillini.com.
