Michigan State vs Illinois (Women Only)
- Friday, October 20th
- East Lansing, MI
- Short course yards
- Results
Team Scores
- Michigan State: 162
- Illinois: 136
Michigan State’s women beat Illinois in a Big 10 match up on Friday, October 20th, at Michigan State. The Fighting Illini fell to the Spartans despite winning 10 out of 16 events. Illinois’ Samantha Stratford and Michelle McCord each won 3 individual events. Stratford, a senior, took 1st in the 100, 200, and 500 free, going 50.86, 1:49.60, and 5:02.97. Her 1:49.60 in the 200 was nearly 2 seconds faster than her best dual meet swim from last year. She didn’t swim the 100 or 500 last season, but she split a 49.93 leading off the 400 free relay at the Big 10 Championships. Freshman Michelle McCord took the 100 back, 200 back and 200 IM. She went best times in the 100 back (56.41) and 200 back (2:04.06), and went 2:07.10 in the 200 IM (best time 2:02.43).
Michigan State’s only double event winner was Morgan Wellenzohn, who won the 1 and 3 meter diving. The Spartans still managed to win the meet by going 1-2 and 1-2-3 in a couple events.
Press Release – Illinois:
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Fighting Illini women’s swimming and diving team set off on the road for the first time this season, as the team faced off against Michigan State on Friday, October 20. The Illini came up short to the Spartans, 162-136, to fall to 1-1 on the season.
“We dug ourselves into a big hole through the first seven events,” head coach Sue Novitskysaid. “The team responded through the second half of the meet, but it was too late. Depth was going to be very important for us to be successful. We won the majority of the events, but did not capitalize on our chances.”
Despite coming up short in the first event of the night, the Illini followed by winning the next three events, including the 1000 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Sophomore Monica Guyett got things started for the Orange and Blue, finishing with a 1000 freestyle time of 10:25.70. Senior Samantha Stratford earned the victory in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 1:49.60, while freshman Michelle McCord won the 100 breaststroke with a time of :56.41.
Stratford and McCord weren’t done contributing for the Illini, as the two swimmers each won two more events on the evening. Stratford earned the top time in the 100 freestyle (:50.86), as well as the 500 freestyle (5:02.97). McCord paced all swimmers in the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley, finishing with times of 2:04.06 and 2:07.10, respectively.
Senior Ashley Aegerter and junior Megan Vuong also earned top times. Aegerter finished with the top 200 breaststroke time of 2:20.75, while Vuong touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly, swimming a time of :55.67.
“We have to continue to put the work in each day,” Novitsky said. “Even more so, we have to be diligent with our habits and attitude each day. As coaches, we are seeing good things in practice and now we need to carry that effort and aggressiveness into our competitions.”
ON THE BOARDS
Junior Madeline Kuhn was the lone diver to compete for the Illini, earning top-three finishes in both 1-meter and 3-meter competition. The Bloomington, Illinois, native posted a 1-meter score of 250.87 to place second in the event. She also came away with the third best 3-meter score of 267.60.
Press Release – Michigan State:
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State women’s swimming and diving team picked up their its Big Ten win against Illinois today. The Spartans won 162-136 in their first home meet of the season.
“I thought competitively we did really well. It was great to compete in this new facility, with the renovations and everything. I’m happy. It’s not easy to win, especially in the Big Ten,” head coach Matt Gianiodis said. “I think more importantly, a lot of our people finishing second, third and fourth and getting points for our team, really contributed to the win.”
The 200 medley relay team of Cathryn Armstrong, Ana Sortland, Iana Wolff and Racheal Bukowski began the meet with a first place finish, clocking in at 1:44.11.
Big Ten Diver of the Week Morgan Wellenzohn won both the 3-meter and 1-meter dives with scores of 287.75 and 261.22, respectively. Erin Neelyscored a 280.80 and placed second in the 3-meter. Both Wellenzohn and Neely qualified for NCAA Regionals with their scores today. In addition to the pair, freshman Amanda Ling qualified with her score against Iowa and Northern Iowa on Oct. 6.
Ana Sortland won the 100 breaststroke with a 1:03.45. Ellie Roche and Erin Szara picked up second and third place finishes in the same event.
Emily Brunett took home a win in the 200 butterfly, clocking in at 2:05.39.
Racheal Bukowski won the 50 freestyle with a 23.69. Macy Moore picked up the second place finish in the same event with a 24.12.
Haley Kornburger and Becca Hannon picked up second and third place finishes, respectively in the 1000 free. Kornburger clocked in at 10:30.17 and Hannon did at 10:34.07.
Courtney Aycock, Olivia Chick, Anna Stephens and Taylor Contino grabbed second through fifth place finishes in the 200 freestyle.
Cathryn Armstrong finished second in the 100 backstroke, touching the pad at 56.78. Madison Nowak placed third in the same event, with a 58.64.
The Spartans will host their 62nd annual alumni meet Saturday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. at IM West. They will be back on the road on Oct. 27 at Pittsburgh with James Madison and Miami (Fla.)