Michigan State University
Illinois (women only)
Swimming & Diving Edged by Fighting Illini
10/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's swimming & diving team fell to Illinois on Friday at the Charles McCaffree Pool, 182-118. The Spartans continued to shine on the boards, taking first in both heights.
"I thought we did okay," said head coach Matt Gianiodis. "They swam really well, give them credit. There were pockets that we were disappointing, specifically down the back part of the race. Going into the last walls, we just got beat. We didn't get blown out though, just got touched out. There were lot of areas I feel like we could have been better, but it is early and there is lot swimming ahead of us. We had a lot of good performances though."
The Spartans (1-3, 0-3 B1G) were edged out in the meet's opener, the 200 medley relay. Junior Sarah Love's 23.24 paced the third leg to gain ground on the Illini, but MSU was unable to claw out the race, tapping the wall in 1:44.30.
In the 1,000 freestyle, senior Chelsea Abbott took third with a 10:33.28. Sophomore Rebecca Hannon was in pursuit taking fourth with a time of 10:44.17. Abbott's day continued with the 500-meter freestyle, where she took fourth in 5:11.18. Sophomore Haley Kornburger led the Spartans in the 500, clocking a 5:11.11.
Courtney Aycock continued to pace MSU in the sprints as a freshman, clocking a 1:53.34 in the 200 freestyle to take third. Aycock went on to finish third in the 100 freestyle, as well, with a 52.26.
Michigan State's first victory of the day came in the 100 backstroke thanks to a 56.48 clocked by sophomore Madison Nowak. Freshman Cathryn Armstrong raced to a third-place finish in a time of 58.52. Nowak and Armstrong followed their performances in the 100 with strong showings in the 200. Nowak took second with an effort of 2:02.80, while Armstrong was fourth in a time of 2:07.48.
The Spartans continued to find success on the boards, as junior Madeline Sewell and freshman Julie Oppedisano took first and second, respectively, on the 1-meter dive with scores of 299.10 and 276.6, both of which are NCAA qualifying scores.
Sewell completed her sweep of the boards with a score of 325.05 in the 3-meter dive, again recording an NCAA qualifying effort. Freshman Morgan Wellenzohn took third with a tally of 277.12, as Oppedisano posted a mark of 209.62 for fifth.
"She is great," Gianiodis said of Sewell. "She is a team captain and a great performer. She performs well when we need her, and they (the divers) are all good."
Junior Kennedy Cutler recorded a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke to score points for the Spartans. Cutler tapped the wall in 1:06.14. Freshman Ana Sortland placed fourth in 1:06.96.
Michigan State rounded out the scoring in the 200 butterfly by finishing third, fourth and fifth. Senior Elizabeth Brown posted a mark of 2:03.9, while senior Jessika Hall and freshman Emily Burnett went 2:10.46 and 2:10.63, respectively.
In the 100 butterfly, Love led MSU with a time of 56.59. Brown was the second Spartan to tap the wall, finishing in 57.51 to take fourth place, as Aycock clocked a 58.67 for sixth.
The Spartans closed the deficit in the 50 freestyle by claiming two of the top three finishes. Sophomore Racheal Bukowski led the way with a 23.73, while Love was third with a time of 24.14.
Brown paced MSU in the 200 medley, posting a second-place finish with a time of 2:07.72. Cutler took fourth with a 2:09.90.
The Spartans dive back into the pool on Oct. 30 at Notre Dame at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
