AMES, Iowa – The Illinois State swimming and diving team battled Big 12 opponent Iowa State Friday night, but came up short, falling 191-100.
"It was a tough fought meet tonight against a very good opponent," said head swimming coach Scott Cameron. "We had some bright spots throughout the meet, and some spots that we can learn from as well. We need tough meets like this at this point in the season to help us prepare us for Missouri Valley Conference championship next month. Overall, I'm excited about the adjustments that I'm seeing in races and I'm looking forward to another great meet tomorrow."
Julie Kolar had a busy, yet successful, night for the Redbirds, finishing second in the 200-yard backstroke (2:09.02) and third in the 100-yard backstroke (59.26). She also aided the Illinois State 200-yard medley relay team, alongside teammates Jensen Keck, Kierston Farley-Sepe and Morgan Clark, to a second-place finish with a final time of 1:47.84.
Keck turned in a pair of second-place performances in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events, clocking in times of 1:05.15 and 2:21.14, respectively. Sarah Hein helped keep the Redbirds in the race for the top spot at the meet, turning in second-place finishes in the 100-yard fly (1:00.34) and the 200-yard fly (2:09.51).
Other notable performances came from Haley Rivera in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:10.76 and the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking a time of 2:32.18, finishing third in both events. Morgan Rosser captured second place in both the 500-yard freestyle (5:15.93) and the 100-yard backstroke (58.87).
Caroline Leceour started her night on the boards with a second-place finish in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 287.55, before winning the 1-meter diving event with a score of 291.15. Teammates Rachel Johnston and Emma Butts joined Leceour at the top of the 1-meter event, finishing third and fourth, respectively, with scores of 167.47 and 161.78, respectively.
"Coming off a bus and competing right away is never easy, but I felt like the divers did a good job adjusting," said head diving coach Phil Hoffmann. "Caroline had a very strong meet against a very talented Big 12 team and I thought the entire group can come away with some positives, as well as some areas to improve upon moving forward. We are looking for strong performances tomorrow as we head to UNI."
The Redbirds will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete against conference rival UNI tomorrow at 2 p.m.
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