Northwestern junior Lacey Locke provided wins in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events and was a dependable medley relay leg as the Wildcats traveled to Champaign and took down Illinois in NU’s first B1G battle. The Wildcats ended up on top of this one 173 to 127.
Locke first led off the 400 medley relay with a 55.84, pushing NU to a 2-plus second lead right off the bat. Northwestern’s Julianne Kurke put up a 1:03.80 to more or less maintain the lead against Illinois’ Sam Stratford (1:03.69), but then Illini senior Lori Lynn pulled out a 54.94 to run down NU freshman Alex Grimes (57.09), pulling Illinois .10 behind NU. Anchor legs Annika Winsnes of NU and freshman Megan Vuong of Illinois battled to a close finish, but NU would come out on top, 3:47.38 to 3:47.67.
In the individual 100 back, Locke uncanned a 55.64 to improve upon her relay swim and take the event by almost 2.5 seconds. In the 200, Locke put down a 2:01.58, again taking the win. NU’s Melissa Postoll grabbed 2nd place finishes in both races.
Northwestern picked up a host of other wins, with Ellen Anderson taking the 1000 (10:07.66) by over ten seconds, Kurke winning the 100 breast (1:04.99), and Winsnes and Mary Warren owning the sprint free.
Warren first took the 50 with a time of 23.38, the only one able to get under 24 seconds. Winsnes grabbed the victory in the 100 (51.68) after the Wildcat divers went 1-2-3-4 in the 1 meter led by Olivia Rosendahl.
Illinois swam well in this meet, getting three wins out of sophomore Sam Stratford. She took the 200 free (1:50.97), the 200 breast (2:19.78), and the 400 IM (4:24.48) in dominant fashion. They also picked up victories in the 500 free with Gabbie Stecker and the 100 fly with medley butterflier Lynn.
The Fighting Illini closed the meet with a win over NU in the 400 free relay, another incredibly tight relay. Illinois won it by a tenth, their best split a 51.13 from Gabby Bethke. NU got a very quick anchor leg from Winsnes (49.93), but her efforts weren’t quite enough to touch ahead of Illinois.
NU faces Wisconsin at home in two weeks, while Illinois is currently swimming against Illinois State and Southern Illinois at SIU.