Northwestern
Illinois
Women's Swimming and Diving Edges Illinois, 156-144
1/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 20, 2001
Evanston, Ill. - It came down to the wire for the Northwestern women's swimming and diving squad Friday night at IMPE Pool in Champaign, Ill. With one event remaining the score was 145-138 in NU's favor, and 17 points left on the table. NU swam to a 1:36.33 first-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay to secure their first conference win this season, 156-144.
The Wildcats and Illini each took home eight first-place victories, but it was the multiple showings in the top five and the two relay wins that gave NU the edge.
Freshman Stephanie Cranston (St Louis, Mo./Mary Institute CD) led the 'Cats with two first-place titles. She dominated the distance events finishing with times of 10.12.91 and 5:01.58 in the 1000 and 500 freestyle, respectively.
Senior Tashy Bohm (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) swam a season best 56.86 to win the 100 back. She also placed second in the 200 back with a time of 2:01.42. Bohm has never finished below third in the 200 this season.
Other individual winners in the meet included Merritt Adams (100 butterfly), Ashley Wagner (100 breaststroke) and Maria Reeves (50 freestyle).
NU also had a strong performance in the diving portion of the meet. In the 1-meter, sophomore Christy Michalak (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) took second with 231.60 points. Teammates Kristin Ward (Oakton, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) and Kristen Lorentz (Warren, Mich./Regina) were right behind Michalak in third and fourth place. Ward took second in the 3-meter with 216.68 points.
The Wildcats upped their record to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. NU is home twice next week at the Norris Aquatic Center, with meets against No. 18 Notre Dame on Thursday at 5 p.m. and No. 14 Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.
