INDIANAPOLIS - Led by strong performances by both sophomore Jimena Martinez and freshman Sarah Cano, the Fighting Illini swimming and diving team sits in third place after day one of the House of Champions Invitational. The Orange and Blue finished Friday with a score of 337, behind only Cincinnati (550.5) and Connecticut (426). 

"Overall we had a really solid day," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "I felt we were a little tentative starting out this morning with our races. In finals we came out racing and had some great drops all the way through the session. It was fantastic to see them fighting to get to the wall. We need to keep gaining momentum and challenging ourselves with every opportunity."

The Orange and Blue had a strong showing in the preliminary round, as the team came away with individual season-best times in every performance and had twelve swimmers advance to final round action. 

Advancing to the 200 individual medley final were Martinez, Cano, Gabriele Serniute and Fiona McDermott. Martinez led the way, finishing in third place with a 2:03.68, which makes her the 10th-fastest individual in the event in program history. Not far behind was Serniute in fifth (2:03.73), followed by Cano in 10th (2:05.40) and McDermott in 17th (2:07.80). 

Junior Monica Guyett paced the Illini in the 500 freestyle. The St. Charles, Illinois, native posted a 4:54.44 to finish in fifth place, while junior Emily Martin (5:01.75), freshman Abigail Martin (5:02.81) and freshman Sidney Kennedy (5:03.97) placed 18th, 20th and 21st, respectively. In the 50 freestyle, both junior Kristin Anderson (:23.59) and sophomore Emma Curtis (:23.66) placed in the top 10. Senior Megan Vuong finished in 19th place with a :23.88, while freshman Abigail Cabush touched the wall in :23.75 to place 25th in the event. 

In relay events, Cano, Martinez, Vuong and Anderson earned a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:36.20. Cano's leadoff 100 backstroke split time of :56.35 places her ninth on the program's fastest individuals list. The quartet of Anderson, Curtis, Vuong and Cabush led the Illini in the 200 freestyle relay, placing fifth with a team season-best time of 1:34.11. 

On the Boards

Senior diver Ling Kuhn was the lone Illini diver to compete on Friday. Competing on platform for the first time of the season, Kuhn placed second with a score of 208.30. 

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