Kyle Patnode Assistant Swimming Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Kyle Patnode Assistant Swimming Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
The Illinois swim and dive teams concluded the first day of their season finales on March 14. The swim team competed in Ocala, Florida, at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships (NIC), while the dive team participated in Louisville, Kentucky, at the NCAA Diving Zones.
In Ocala, three swimmers from Illinois advanced to the NIC finals: juniors Sydney Stoll and Logan Kuehne, along with sophomore Sara Jass. Stoll achieved a new school record by placing second in the 50 butterfly finals with a time of 24.02 seconds. Earlier in the preliminaries, she set a then-school record of 24.28 seconds.
The 400 medley relay team consisting of Stoll, Jass, Kuehne, and senior Laurel Bludgen finished fifth with a school-record time of 3:40.78. Stoll's leadoff time of 54.01 seconds ranks third all-time for the school.
Kuehne followed closely behind Stoll in the 50 butterfly finals, securing seventh place with a program's second-fastest time of 24.51 seconds. She also placed 13th in the 50 freestyle finals with a time of 23.22 seconds.
Jass finished 13th in the 200 IM finals with a time of 2:01.21 after improving her preliminary qualifying time by over one and a half seconds.
Freshman Gwen Bakker did not advance to the finals but recorded one of the top-5 times for her program in the 50 breaststroke event.
In Louisville, freshmen Matilda Garcia led Illinois' divers by placing 24th in Thursday's one-meter dive competition with a score of 236.90 points.
Looking ahead, both teams will continue their respective competitions on March 15 for day two events at both locations.
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