Abigail Knapton erupted for a career-best 343.12 to lead Nebraska's sweep of the top-three spots on the three-meter board at Illinois. Current photo via Stephanie Carpenter/Nebraska Communications
The Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the University of Illinois this past weekend claiming a 169-131 victory to complete an undefeated dual meet season. During the 2016-2017 season, Nebraska won over Iowa State, South Dakota State, Kansas, and now Illinois – their lone Big Ten opponent of the season.
Abigail Knapton performed to a career-high of 343.12 points in the three-meter board to lead a Huskers 1-2-3 sweep in the event. Right behind Knapton was Senior All-American Anna Filipcic and Sophomore Katrina Voge.
The divers added significantly to the Huskers’ point total, providing the team with 32 points which ended up being a significant difference maker in the overall score, pushing them over the edge for the win.
The Huskers were absolutely dominant in the backstroke events, featuring a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200m backstroke as senior captain Erin Oeltjen led the way with a 1:59.98 performance. Behind Oeltjen was fellow teammate Anna McDonald in 2:02.24 and Carla Gonzalez-Garcia in 2:04.59. Oeltjen went on to win the 100 backstroke as well with McDonald finishing second behind her.
Other victories for the Huskers included freshman Tori Beeler winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.77. Junior Jordan Ehly finished second behind her in 1:05.18, but went on to win the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.13.
The Huskers strength extended to the butterfly and freestyle events. Dana Posthuma won the 200 butterfly in 2:05.09 while Allie Worrall won the 100 free in a best time of 52.69.
The Fighting Illini were dominant in several events as well – starting off the meet strong with a win in the 200 medley relay. The team of Gabbie Stecker, Gabriele Serniute, Audrey Rodawig, and Megan Vuong defeated the Huskers by just three one-hundredths.
Monica Guyett managed to get her hand on the wall first in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:10.11 to give Illinois two straight wins. Teammate Amelia Schilling backed up those performances with a 1:51.25 in the 200 freestyle to claim a third win for Illinois.
Rodawig added another win after her performance on the relay, clocking in a 24.13 50 freestyle. Vuong who was also on the relay went on to win the 100 fly Schilling also added another victory by winning the 500 in 5:00.09.
The Fighting Illini won the 400 freestyle relay to cap off the meet, but ultimately couldn’t secure enough points to beat Nebraska.
PRESS RELEASE – NEBRASKA:
Champaign, Ill.- Freshmen Abigail Knapton and Allie Worrall achieved career bests as the Nebraska swimming and diving team captured 169-131 victory at Illinois in the Huskers’ final dual of the season. The Big Red completed the dual campaign with a perfect 6-0 record.
Knapton provided one of many highlights for the Husker divers to help secure the team victory for the Huskers. The Omahan’s career-high 343.12 in the three-meter board led a sweep of the top three spots in the event. Senior All-American Anna Filipcic took second (317.55), while sophomore Katrina Voge added a third-place performance (281.17).
The Big Red divers added another sweep of the top two spots on the one-meter board as well, with Filipcic winning the event with a 330.15, while Knapton took second (294.98) and Voge claimed third (270.30).
The sweeps in the diving events provided Nebraska with 32 points, going a long way to account for the Huskers’ margin of victory against the Fighting Illini.
While the divers were dominant, the swimmers enjoyed plenty of success in the pool as well.
The Huskers swept the top three spots in the 200-yard backstroke with senior captain Erin Oeltjen cruising to a victory (1:59.98), followed by teammate Anna McDonald in second (2:02.24) and Carla Gonzalez-Garcia in third (2:04.59). Oeltjen and McDonald added a sweep of the top two spots in the 100 back, with Oeltjen claiming the win in 56.42, while McDonald took second in 57.93.
The strong showings continued in the 100 breaststroke, with freshman Tori Beeler taking the title (1:04.77), followed closely by junior Jordan Ehly in second (1:05.18).
Ehly claimed a win of her own in the 200 breast with a time of 2:18.13, while the Huskers extended their winning ways in the 200-yard butterfly with a first-place finish (2:05.09) from Dana Posthuma.
Worrall also captured a win in the 100-yard freestyle with a career-best 52.69, while senior captain Julia Roller took third in the event in a time of 52.94.
Nebraska opened the meet with second- and third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay with times of 1:45.88 (Brassard, Beeler, Oeltjen, Roller) and 1:46.46 (Gonzalez-Garcia, Worlton, Hedrick, Helferich).
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Kaylyn Flatt finished second in time of 10:13.44, followed by Bridget Pacilio in third (10:29.71).
Lindsay Helferich secured a second-place showing in the 50-yard freestyle at 24.13, while Posthuma finished second in the 100 fly (56.30) and Samantha Hedrick added third (59.41) in the event.
McDonald claimed her third individual runner-up finish of the meet in the 200-yard IM (2:05.50), while Ehly added a third-place effort (2:07.36) in the event.
The Big Red wrapped up the meet with second- and third-place finishes in the 400 free relay, with Oeltjen, Beeler, Worrall and Roller racing to second (3:30.43), followed by Helferich, Gonzalez-Garcia, Hedrick and Flatt in third (3:31.18)
Nebraska returns to the pool for Notre Dame’s Shamrock Invitational in South Bend, Ind., Jan. 27-28.
PRESS RELEASE – ILLINOIS:
Champaign, Ill. – The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team played host to Nebraska on Saturday, January 21, at the ARC Pool. Though it was a very tightly contested meet, the Illini came up short to the Cornhuskers by a score of 169-131. The meet marked the end of the regular season for the Illini, as well as senior day for Audrey Rodawig, Amelia Schilling andGabbie Stecker. Illinois finishes the regular season with a record of 7-5.
“Obviously we would have loved to send the seniors out with a win,” said head coach Sue Novitsky. “But it was a very competitive meet all the way through. We never stopped competing at the end. I think we won the last three swimming events, which was great to see. We had some really great swims and a lot of season-best times.”
Illinois started fast by winning the first three events of the meet. The 200 medley relay team of Stecker, Serniute, Rodawig and Vuong got things started by finishing first with a time of 1:45.85. Freshman Monica Guyett followed that performance with an impressive first-place finish in the 1000 freestyle, finishing in a time of 10:10.11. Senior Amelia Schillingkept the Illini rolling by touching the wall first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.25.
The seniors kept rolling on the day as Audrey Rodawig and Amelia Schilling earned first place finishes in the 50 freestyle (:24.13) and 500 freestyle (5:00.09), respectively.
Other first-place finishers included sophomore Megan Vuong, who touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly in a time of :55.71, as well as junior Samantha Stratford, who won the 200 IM, finishing with a time of 2:05.35.
The highlight of the meet came in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. The relay quartet of Rodawig, Bethke, Vuong and Schilling earned a first-place finish, as well as a new ARC Pool record, finishing in a time of 3:27.05.
In diving competition, sophomore Madeline Kuhn finished fourth in both the three-meter dive, as well as the one-meter dive. The Bloomington, Illinois, native finished with scores of 250.65 and 257.62, respectively. Freshman Lauren LaPeter finished in fifth-place in both competitions, earning a score of 207.60 in three-meter diving and 196.12 in one-meter diving.
HIGHLIGHTS
Abigail Knapton wins three-meter board with career high of 343.12 points
Fighting Illini win 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays
Erin Ojeltjen wins both the 100 and 200 backstrokes in 56.42 and 1:59.98
Anna McDonald finished second in 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 IM
Mitch worked for 5-years with SwimSwam news as a web producer focusing on both Canadian and international content.
He coached for Toronto Swim Club for four seasons as a senior coach focusing on the development of young swimmers.
Mitch is an NCCP level 2 certified coach in Canada and an ASCA Level …
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