Illinois Falls to Ohio State, 157-143

COLUMBUS, Ohio, November 4. ILLINOIS senior swimmers Barbie Viney and Meghan Farrell recorded NCAA provisional cuts, and freshman Jen Ivarson landed in the school record book for the second time in three weeks, but the Illini still lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 157-143 on Saturday afternoon at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

Farrell took the 50 free in a time of 23.33, good for a B-cut time. Next, Viney tallied her B-cut time in the 100 free in a time of 50.88, and Farrell finished right behind her in second place while sophomore Katie Theissen and junior Kellie Stevens stood fourth and fifth in the 100 free respectively.

The Buckeyes took the first two events, the 200 medley relay and the 1000 free, before the Illini grabbed the next two events. Viney led the field in the 200 free and Theissen, senior Caroline Moore and Stevens occupied spots three, five and six.

"We knew going in that it was going to be a back-and-forth meet and that's exactly what it ended up being," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "They just had a little bit more in a couple of events and were able to pull it out."

Freshman Cece Marizu turned in a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke and teammates Anna Johnson, Mallory Craft and Morgan Gilman scored in positions three through five.

Ivarson stood second in the 200 butterfly but shaved twelve-hundredths of a second off her season-opening score and missed ninth place in the UI annals by a mere hundredth of a second.

After wins by Farrell and Viney in the 50 and 100 free, sophomore Marissa Clapp secured the first of two top tallies in the 200 breaststroke. Clapp then swam a personal-best time of 4:25.17 to capture the 400 IM prior to the Orange and Blue's final Saturday triumph in the 400 free relay.

"It was a very competitive meet and it was tough since it was our third weekend in a row," Novitsky said. "People were definitely feeling the fatigue and had a tough time getting it going, but that's not an excuse. We have to work on coming in week in and week out being able to step up and perform to the best of our ability."

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