Chambana Sun

The Illinois swim and dive team concluded their participation in the Hawkeye Invite on Saturday, November 23, finishing fourth among nine teams with a total of 987.5 points. Senior swimmer Sydney Stoll made a significant mark by clocking a time of 49.73 seconds in the 100 freestyle, placing sixth in the A final and achieving the second-fastest time in Illinois history for this event.

In diving, sophomore Bethany Mercer scored 230.30 and Elle Crisostomo scored 227.10 during the platform dive competition, both securing NCAA Zone cuts. Mercer's score ranks as the eighth-best in program history, while Crisostomo's is tenth.

The Illini also saw success in the swimming finals. In the 200 breaststroke finals, junior Sara Jass finished sixth overall with a time of 2:15.39 in the A final. Freshman Kayla Duran won the B final with a time of 2:13.78—the third-fastest time recorded by an Illini swimmer—placing ninth overall. Freshman Chloe Diner secured third place in the B final and eleventh overall with her performance.

In relay events, two Illinois teams competed in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing seventh and eighth respectively. The first team consisted of freshman Maggie Adler, Chloe Diner, senior Logan Kuehne, and Sara Jass who finished at 3:23.39; followed closely by senior Laurel Bludgen, freshman Isabella Wilhelm, senior Molly Yetter, and Sydney Stoll at 3:23.62.

The top three teams at the invite were Nebraska (1st) with 1,368 points, San Diego State (2nd) with 1,238 points, and Arkansas (3rd) with 1,187 points.

Following these results are notable personal bests from various team members including Sydney Stoll's aforementioned record-breaking swim and performances from other athletes across different events.

Looking ahead to their next competition date on December 15th for CSCAA Open Water Nationals in Miami Florida shows that they are preparing to continue building upon these achievements.