INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Illini swim team continued its strong showing on day two of the House of Champions Invitational in Indianapolis on Saturday, as redshirt senior Aby Olson set a meet record, after coming away with the top spot in the 100 backstroke. The Orange and Blue sit in third place with a score of 857, behind Cincinnati (1,051.5) and Michigan State (962), with one more day of competition.
"Today the team put together a very strong day. We had two fantastic sessions and they kept racing hard all the way through the session and their races," said head coach Sue Novitsky. "We challenged them to be the toughest team coming off the last wall and we had a lot of heat wins. They are staying together, have each other's back, having fun and are a determined group. We have two more sessions and a lot of racing still to come."
Building off day one's momentum, the Fighting Illini began the finals round strong, as the 200 medley relay team of Olson, freshman Divya Kale, and senior Rebecca Corzine and Kristin Anderson combined for a time of 1:42.53 to finish the race in fourth.
Corzine touched the wall seventh in the 100 butterfly, finishing with a time of :56.09. Freshman Athena Salafatinos competed in the "B" finals of the event, taking ninth-place overall, recording a time of :56.18. Freshman Isabelle Guerra (:57.03) and Kale (:58.40) placed 15th and 19th, respectively. Kale (1:04.96) and Corzine (1:06.72) also took 11th and 16th, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke.
Junior Jimena Martinez earned third with a time of 4:23.16 in the 400 individual medley, while junior Michelle McCord swam a time of 4:26.11 for sixth-place. Freshman Kaleigh Haworth (4:26.79) and senior Fiona McDermott (4:32.40) both raced in the "B" finals as Haworth placed ninth and McDermott was 14th overall.
Sophomore Abigail Cabush paced the 200 freestyle for the Illini, earning a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:49.82. Anderson (1:51.64), freshman Hannah Aegerter (1:51.10) and sophomore Abigail Martin (1:55.49) followed behind, finishing seventh, ninth and 29th, respectively.
Olson secured a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke, as she set a meet record and a personal-best time of :54.38. Salafatinos also recorded a season-best time of :55.02 to earn third, while sophomore Sarah Cano claimed sixth with a time of :56.18. Freshman Linda Licari, and juniors Gabrielle Loeck and Emma Curtis also competed in the event, respectively earning ninth, 16th and 17th-place spots.
In the 800 freestyle relay, the team membered by Cabush, Anderson, Martinez and Aegerter finished with a total time of 7:28.76 to claim third in the event.
The Fighting Illini swim team resumes competition tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT. Event order for Sunday will be as follows:
Sunday, Nov. 24
Session 5
- 200 Backstroke
- 100 Freestyle
- 200 Breaststroke
- 200 Butterfly
Session 6
- 1650 Freestyle
- 200 Backstroke
- 100 Freestyle
- 200 Breaststroke
- 200 Butterfly
- 400 Freestyle Relay
Follow the Illini
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Swimming and Diving. Follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for even more coverage.
