Tricia Grant Head Diving Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Tricia Grant Head Diving Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
The Illinois swim and dive team continued their participation in the Hawkeye Invite, concluding the second day of events on Friday. Freshman Chloe Diner set a new school record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.07, placing fifth in the A final. Earlier, fellow freshman Kayla Duran had temporarily held the program record with her preliminary time of 1:01.13 before being surpassed by Diner; Duran finished sixth in the A final.
Illinois is currently positioned fourth among nine teams with a score of 630.5 points after two days of competition.
In other events, the 200 medley relay team consisting of Sophia Paduano, Kayla Duran, Logan Kuehne, and Isabella Wilhelm secured a win with the program's second-fastest time at 1:38.84. Paduano's lead-off in the 50 backstroke was noted as seventh-best in Illinois history (25.90).
Senior Sydney Stoll achieved third place in the 100 butterfly A final (54.04), while Kuehne won the B final with a time ranking seventh for Illinois (54.80). In another strong performance, Diner completed the fourth-fastest 400 IM for Illinois during her fifth-place finish in the A final.
In diving, sophomore Dani O'Kelly placed twelfth overall in the three-meter dive finals with an NCAA B cut and personal best score of 286.20. Bethany Mercer also reached an NCAA B cut during preliminaries but finished fifteenth overall (271.75).
Team scores after day two are led by Nebraska with 844 points, followed by Arkansas and San Diego State holding second and third positions respectively.
The Fighting Illini will return for their final day at the Hawkeye Invite on Saturday.
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