University of Illinois
Big Ten Championships
Orange and Blue Conclude 2018 B1G Championships
February 17, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
Diver Kuhn places 8th on platform diving
| 2018 Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships | |
|---|---|
| When | Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 14-17, 2018 |
| Where | McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion // Columbus, Ohio |
| Follow Live | Live Results |
| Admission | Purchase Tickets Here |
| Watch |
Wednesday // 5:30 p.m. CT // Day One Results |
| More Info | Championship Central |
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team capped off the 2018 Big Ten Championships with a strong performance on day four of competition. The Orange and Blue got a big contribution from junior diver Ling Kuhn, who came away with a school record on platform diving en route to an eighth-place finish in the event. UI finished 12th overall with a point total of 187.
"This was our best day of the meet," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "The swimmers responded with a strong prelim session and just missed making the finals in a couple of events. As a team, we didn't give up and continued to show up and compete, gaining momentum each day."
The preliminary round of the day began with the 200 backstroke and both freshman Michelle McCord and junior Aby Olson came away with lifetime bests, posting times of 2:00.18 and 2:05.38, respectively. Also earning season-best times in the event were sophomore Jamie Kolar (2:01.43), senior Kaitlyn Joyce (2:04.56), freshman Natalie Edwards (2:08.24) and junior Autumn Ledgin (2:15.72).
UI posted two more personal-best times in the second event of the day, as sophomores Kristin Anderson (:50.43) and Molly Hein (:54.85) swam career-best times in the 100 freestyle. Junior Ashley Aegerter came up big in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall in a time of 2:14.92. The time was a season-best for the Cross Plains, Wisconsin, native and also qualified for the NCAA B Cut Standard.
Sophomores Fiona McDermott and Rebecca Corzine also posted lifetime-best times on Saturday. McDermott came away with a 2:25.84 in the 200 breaststroke, while Corzine swam the fastest 200 butterfly of her career (2:09.20).
The 400 freestyle relay was the final event of the night and the quartet of Curtis, Stratford, Anderson and Serniute swam a season-best time of 3:22.10. The time also places as the fifth fastest in the event in school history.
On the Boards
After scoring on both one-meter and three-meter diving earlier in the weekend, Kuhn secured a school record on platform diving during preliminary competition with a point total of 287.80 and qualified for the finals of the event. The Bloomington, Illinois, native finished eighth overall after posting a five-dive total of 267.15 in the finals.
"Ling did well," diving coach Manny Pollard said. "She achieved what we were striving for so I am satisfied. I knew she had the potential to do big things so I didn't put any pressure on her. She did well but we are already looking forward to next year. She is the beginning to a new start for Illinois diving and now the rest of the Big Ten knows it too."
Michigan won the event with a total of 1465. Indiana placed second (1152.5), followed by host Ohio State (1094.5), Minnesota (1049), Wisconsin (755), Purdue (693), Northwestern (528), Penn State (418), Rutgers (386), Nebraska (358) and Iowa (338). Michigan State rounded out the group, finishing in 13th place with a point total of 172.
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