IOWA CITY, Iowa — Illinois swim and dive completed day one of the Hawkeye Invitational Tuesday evening, which included final competition in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay.
The 200 medley relay team of Sophia Paduano, Chloe Diner, Kayla Duran and Isabella Wilhelm swam a 1:39.60 in the opening event of the meet, good for fifth place and the fourth-best time in program history. Paduano's leadoff time in the 50 backstroke jumps her up to third fastest in program history (25.11). In the 800 freestyle relay, Sara Jass, Diner, Hailey Vlcek and Eva Allan earned fourth place and a fifth-best program mark with a time of 7:16.36.
During time trials, Kalina Nikolaeva swam a 1:58.60 in the 200 backstroke, making her the second fastest individual in program history.
Top-Ten Program Marks
Second - 200 backstroke: Kalina Nikolaeva (1:58.60)
Third - 50 backstroke: Sophia Paduano (25.11)
Seventh - 50 backstroke: Michelle Kaner (25.57)
Fourth - 200 medley relay: Sophia Paduano, Chloe Diner, Kayla Duran, Isabella Wilhelm (1:39.60)
Fifth - 800 freestyle relay: Sara Jass, Chloe Diner, Hailey Vlcek, Eva Allan (7:16.36)
Personal Bests
50 backstroke: Sophia Paduano (25.11)
50 backstroke: Michelle Kaner (25.57)
50 backstroke: Sophia Szymanski (26.34)
200 freestyle: Sara Jass (1:49.16)
200 backstroke: Kalina Nikolaeva (1:58.60)
Up Next
The Fighting Illini return to the pool on Wednesday, November 19, for day two of the Hawkeye Invitational. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m. CT for swimming and 11:30 a.m. CT for diving. The final session of the day commences at 5 p.m. CT.
