INDIANAPOLIS – The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team used another strong performance on day three of the House of Champions Invitational to place third overall at the event, behind just Cincinnati and Connecticut. The Orange and Blue were led by junior Kristin Anderson, sophomore Jimena Martinez and freshman Sarah Cano, as each swimmer earned a spot on the program's top-10 fastest individuals list for their respective events. 

"Overall the team competed hard throughout the entire meet," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "We continued to put up lifetime and season bests today and kept going back to work. This is going to be a great meet for us to build off of and continue to take steps forward as a team."

The first event of the finals was the 200 backstroke and Cano led the way for the Illini, finishing third overall with a time of 2:00.51. With the performance, Cano is now the ninth-fastest individual in the event in program history. The second event saw similar results for Illinois, as Anderson touched the wall in a time of :50.91, making her the fourth-fastest Illini swimmer in the event.

Martinez continued her stellar weekend on Sunday, as the Mexico City native moved up to number nine on the fastest individuals list with a 2:16.94 showing in the 200 breaststroke. The time placed the sophomore second overall in the event. The Illini relay team of Curtis, Vuong, Cabush and Anderson capped off the night by clocking a time of 3:26.30 in the 400 freestyle relay, good for fourth place. 

On the Boards

Diver Ling Kuhn added to her stellar Illinois career on Sunday, as the senior finished with a six-dive total of 278.40 to place third in the event. Freshman Taylor Shegos earned a sixth-place finish with a score of 234.90.

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