Illinois Defeats Nebraska in Season Opener- 185.5-109.5

Champaigne, Ill.- The Fighting Illini won 13 out of 16 events Saturday morning in Champaigne,Ill en route to a 185.5-109.5 victory over Nebraska. It was the Husker's regular season opener and the third straight year the Illini have defeated the Huskers.

The Huskers struggled to get going early, allowing Illinois to take the six events of the day, before Ariel Weech notched a win for Big Red in the 50-yard freestyle. The Huskers were only able to win two more events on the day coming from Kaitlan Walker in the 3-Meter Dive and Shannon Guy in the 100-yard butterfly. The wins came back-to-back in the 13th and 14th events.

Second-place finishes seemed to come easily for the Huskers, where as a team they earned eleven on the day. Freshman Bailey Pons and Kelsey Larson each earned two second-place finishes in the 1000- and 500-yard freestyle for Pons, and 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke for Larson. Lexie Halberstadt earned a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, while Kelsey Grushecky was runner-up in the 200-yard butterfly. Ellan Dufour came in second in the 100-yard backstroke as well. The 200-yard medley relay team and the 400-yard freestyle relay teams came in second as well.

The divers had a strong showing Saturday morning with Kaitlan Walker winning the 3-meter diving event, with Payton Michaud and Amy Herman coming in second and third. Payton Michaud also earned a runner-up finish in the 1-meter diving event.

Eight different Illini contributed wins on Saturday, including Erin Lamb, Cara Chuang and April McKee who each had two wins on the day. Other winners from the Illini include Torrey Loper, Corey Kasten, Erin Rodriguez, Britni Fisher and Courtney Pope.

The Huskers now have a breather until their next meet, Saturday, November 6 at Reno, Nevada against the Wolf Pack. The Huskers will then host their first home meet Friday, November 12 against North Dakota at the Devaney Natatorium.