NCAA Div. I Women: Illini Win Miami Invite

OXFORD, Ohio, Dec. 3. THE University of Illinois women¹s swimming and diving team captured the Miami (Ohio) Invitational title today with a score of 933.50 points. The Illini dominated the 12-team field throughout the meet. Kenyon College came in second with 625.50 points followed by Miami (Ohio) (487), Indiana (331) and Ball State (311).

The last time the Illini won a meet of comparable size was when Illinois took first in the 10-team Illini Classic in January of 1997.

Jessica Aveyard and the Fighting Illini 200-yard backstrokers stole the show on the final day of the three-day event. In the morning¹s preliminaries,
Aveyard set a meet and pool record of 1:58.75, which beat the old record of 1:59.04 set by Anne Kampfe of Michigan in 1996. The time provisionally qualified her to compete in the event at the 2001 NCAA Championships. In the finals, the Illini dominated by taking the first five places. Aveyard won the race with a time of 1:59.31 followed by Kathy Kielty (2:04.50), Sara O¹Fallon (2:04.60), Alison Czmarko (2:06.04) and Jennifer Ochab (2:06.67).

"It was another good day," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "They swam well the entire weekend. They stepped it up and showed what they can do. They really came together and gelled as a team. I think they saw the potential and power that they have when they work together toward their goals. It was a very exciting meet, and I¹m very proud of them all. It was a good way to end the first half of the season."

Several other Illini performed well on the final day of the tournament. Freshman Crystal McAdam won the 100 freestyle with a lifetime-best time of 51.65. Colleen Farrell finished the race in 52.46 to take fourth in the same race. Jen Peters took second in the 1650 freestyle event finishing the race in 17:02.23. Darcy Adler finished fourth (2:24.50) to lead the Illini in the 200 breaststroke. In the 200 butterfly, Anna Christiansen finished with a 2:04.08 to take second place. McAdam and Matthias finished fourth (2:05.46)and fifth (2:07.11). Lisa Fish took third in the platform diving event with a final score of 147.85.

The Illini just fell short of sweeping the tournament¹s relay events. After winning the first four relays, the Illinois came in second. Allison Olech, Farrell, Ashley Braun and McAdam finished the
400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.11, which was less than .2 seconds behind the group from Kenyon College.

Final Women¹s Team Scores
Place School Points

1 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 933.50
2 KENYON COLLEGE 625.50
3 MIAMI UNIVERSITY 487
4 INDIANA UNIVERSITY 331
5 BALL STATE UNIVERSITY 311
6 UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI 292
7 CLARION UNIVERSITY 196
8 LEWIS UNIVERSITY 137
9 EMORY UNIVERSITY 117
10 WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY 78
11 WHEELING JESUIT UNIVERSITY 76
12 OBERLIN UNIVERSITY 6

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