Results (PDF)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Fighting Illini Swimming and Diving team wrapped up its dual season in a showdown with 22nd-ranked Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Orange and Blue fell to the Razorbacks by a final score of 187-101. With the defeat, the Illini drop to 8-4 on the season, while Arkansas improves to 9-1.
"We definitely faced the strongest team in a dual meet this season," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "Arkansas is a tough and deep team and they showed why they are [highly ranked] in the country. I was happy to see us not back down from the challenge."
The relay team of Sloane McDermott, Jennifer Coady, Lori Lynn and Audrey Rodawig quickly earned points for the Illini with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.68. Junior Amelia Schilling and sophomore Samantha Stratford followed with second-place finishes of their own in the 1000 freestyle (10:28.23) and 200 freestyle (1:51.37), respectively.
Other swimmers earning second-place finishes for the Illini included sophomore Gabrielle Bethke in the 100 freestyle (:51.95), senior McDermott in the 200 backstroke (2:03.30), sophomore Charli Wike in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.34), junior Gabbie Stecker in the 500 freestyle (5:02.15), senior Lynn in the 100 butterfly (:55.69), Stratford in the 200 IM (2:04.05) and the relay team of Megan Vuong, Bethke, Stecker and Rodawig in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:26.89.
 "At the start, we talked about our strength as a team and one of those is that we are infinitely better when we have each other's back and stay together," said Novitsky. "That definitely shined through on the relays, where people put it on the line and raced all the way to the wall for their teammates."
Over on the boards, junior Olivia Kassouni finished second in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 274.13, while freshman Madeline Kuhn finished third with a reading of 271.73. Kassouni led the Illini divers with a mark of 279.83 on the three-meter board.
Despite suffering three losses to close out the regular season, the Illini finished with eight wins for only the second time since 2000. With the 8-4 dual record, UI has also completed three-consecutive winning seasons, marking the first such occurrence since the three-year span of 2008-10.
"Now that we are finished with our dual meets it is time to turn our full focus to preparing for the Big Ten Championships," shared Novitsky. "We are a little beat up and the opportunity to rest will definitely help us in the next couple of weeks." Â
The Illini will now have just over two weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, which will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Competition will begin at 7 a.m. CT on Tuesday, February 17thÂÂ, and will conclude on Saturday, February 20th.
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