Purdue vs Illinois (Women’s Dual)
- Saturday, January 29th, 2022
- Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, West Lafayette, IN
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Results
Team Scores
- Purdue – 188
- Illinois – 111
Purdue downed Big Ten opponent Illinois in West Lafayette on Saturday, in what was both teams’ final meet ahead of the Big Ten Championships, which start on February 16th.
The Boilermakers were led by Hannah Hill, Masy Folcik, and Lindsay Turner, each of whom won 2 events. Hill posted a victory in the 100 back, swimming a 56.01, using a first 50 split of 27.23 to get out to the lead. She would go on to win the 50 free as well, swimming a 23.59 to narrowly touch out Illinois’ Isabelle Guerra (23.70).
Folcik swept the breaststroke events, starting out with a 1:03.32 in the 100 breast. She was dominant in the race, touching first by 2.38 seconds. She went on to swim a 2:21.01 in the 200 breast, passing teammate Mahala Erlandson after she got out to the early lead. Erlandson ended up finishing 2nd in 2:21.94.
Similarly, Turner swept the fly events. In the 100 fly, she swam a 56.67, with Illinois’ Isabelle Guerra again finishing in a close 2nd (56.96). Turner took the 200 fly in 2:02.75.
Illinois had its bright spots as well, with Abby Cabush and Cara Bognar each winning 2 events. Cabush handled the 100 and 200 free, winning both races decisively. In the 100 free, she swam a 51.16, splitting 24.62/26.54, both of which were the fastest split in the field. Cabush clocked a 1:50.14 in the 200 free, establishing a 1.4-second lead at the 100 turn, and never looking back.
Bognar took the distance races on the day. She started things out with a 10:17.64 in the 1000, using a 28.85 on the final 50 to get her hand on the wall ahead of Purdue’s Kate Beavon (10:18.09). Bognar posted a massive negative split, swimming a 5:12.35 on the first 500, then coming home in 5:05.29. Beavon had a 5-second lead at the 500 mark.
Bognar went on to win the 500 in 5:04.71, leading a 1-2 charge by the Illini. Sidney Kennedy took 2nd in 5:05.78, while Beavon took 3rd in 5:06.83.
PRESS RELEASE – PURDUE:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Hannah Hill, Masy Folcik and Lindsay Turner all won a pair of individual events to lead the way as Purdue women’s swimming & diving racked up a dozen victories in a 188-111 dual meet win vs. Illinois on Senior Day at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
The Boilermakers posted their third dual win of the year and will now set their sights on the Big Ten Championships, set for Feb. 16 to 19 at Wisconsin’s second-year aquatic center. The Big Ten Championships have not been held in the state of Wisconsin since the 1980s.
Folcik swept the breaststroke events and Turner did likewise in the butterfly. Hill continued her big month by swimming the leadoff leg on both of Purdue’s relay winners. The freshman was also victorious in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
The meet ended in exciting fashion as Rachel Young out touched Illinois’ Isabelle Guerra by .06 hundredths of a second as the anchors on the 400 free relay. Young teamed with Claire Abbasse, Teagen Moon and Hill for the victory. Like Hill, Moon was also part of both relay winners Saturday.
Fifth-year senior Emily (Bretscher) Pfeiffer was victorious in 1-meter diving in her final home meet. Classmate Maggie Merriman won on the platform, which was a non-scoring exhibition Saturday, with a team season-best score of 311.10, just 1.2 points shy of her career best as a Boilermaker.
Purdue had at least the top two finishers in both springboard events. Sophie McAfee was victorious on 3-meter with a personal season-best mark of 335.78 that moved the freshman into 14th place in program history. Jenna Sonnenberg was the runner-up on both springboards.
Pfeiffer’s win was her team-leading seventh of the season. Folcik and Hill continue to lead the swimmers with six individual event wins apiece. Turner now has five and Maggie Love’s victory in the 200 IM on Saturday gave the freshman four wins this season.
The Boilermakers finished 1-2 in the 200 back and 200 breast. Abby Harter and Erin Verbrugge were the top finishers in the backstroke and Folcik teamed with Mahala Erlandson for the 1-2 in the breaststroke.
Swimmers McKenna Jule, Jade Knueppel and Tessa Wrightson joined Merriman and Pfeiffer in the Senior Day ceremony before the meet.
PRESS RELEASE – ILLINOIS:
West Lafayette, Ind. – The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team concluded their regular season on Saturday, coming up short to Big Ten opponent Purdue, 188-111. This brings Illinois final regular season record to 5-4 and drops their Big Ten record to 1-2 on the season. Taylor Shegos marked her return to the boards with a NCAA Zone qualifying dive in the one-meter.
“This was a very competitive meet from start to finish,” said head coach Sue Novitsky. “On the boards, the divers have been working hard on their lists. It was great to see Taylor Shegos back and qualifying for NCAA Zones. In the pool there were many close races that came down to the final stroke. It was good to see the team working and staying strong to the end.”
Once again, the Fighting Illini were led by senior Abigail Cabush and sophomore Cara Bognar. The pair each picked up two first place finishes apiece. Cabush in the 200 freestyle (1:50.14) and the 100 freestyle (51.16), and Bognar in the 1000 freestyle (10:17.64) and 500 freestyle (5:04.71).
Despite not securing the win in today’s meet, Illinois once again recorded many personal and college best times in today’s meet. Junior Jeanri Buys clocked a prsonal best in the 1000 freestyle (10:41.87), junior Lizzie Gile recorded a college-best time of 1:59.69 in the 200 freestyle, sophomore Meghan Niziolek recorded a college-best time of 10:42.80 in the 1000 freestyle, and finally, freshman Sydney Stoll recorded her college best in the 100 back with a time of 56.95
Illinois (5-4) grabbed second place in both of today’s relay events. The team of Salafatinos, Kale, Cabush, and Yetter took second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:44.48, with Stoll, Lynch, Kuehne, and Bludgen finishing close behind with a time of 1:45.16, good for third. In the 400 freestyle relay, the team composed of Cabush, Bludgen, Yetter, and Guerra also placed second, with a time of 3:28.89.
ON THE BOARDS
Saturday marked senior Taylor Shegos return to the boards after a long 14 month battle with injury. Shegos returned to practice last week but did not compete until today’s competition with Purdue. In her return, she scored the highest of the Illini divers in the 1-meter competition with a score of 276.60, good for fourth place. Sophomore Taylor Michael put up a quality performance in the 3-meter, placing third for the Illini and marking Illinois highest score on the event today (272.78).
NEXT UP
The Illinois diving team will travel to the University of Illinois, Chicago next Saturday to compete in the UIC Diving Invitational. The Orange and Blue swimmers do not compete again until the Big Ten Championships being held in Madison from 2/16-2/19.
