Illinois knew it would have a tough meet against Indiana.

After all, the teams had met just two weeks earlier, giving the Illini swimmers a good idea of what to expect in the pool on Saturday.

So when the No. 23 Hoosiers edged the Illini 155-145 at IMPE, it meant mixed emotions for the home team.

“To be able to swim that tight with Indiana, I’m very pleased with where we’re at,” said head coach Sue Novitsky. “We were able to put some competitive races there. You look at the results, and maybe less than a second and it swings our way.”

The Illini were led by frequent standouts senior Trisha Lakatos and sophomore Barbie Viney. Lakatos took first in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, finishing in 1:05.10 and 2:21.98 respectively.

Viney topped two races, finishing the 100 freestyle in 51.58 and the 200 free in 1:51.38.

But the surprise success of the day was sophomore Jessica Rothenberg, who took second in the 200 fly and won the 400 IM in 4:32.61.

“She had a tough swim in the 400 IM, but she stepped in there and took control of the race and won that race,” Novitsky said. “That was a huge race for us, because coming into this meet that was not one of the events that I was like, ‘OK, we should win this race.’ She stepped up and put together a great swim.”

Novitsky said she was also happy with the way Illinois’ relays are improving. The Illini took second, third and fourth places in the 200 medley relay but pulled out a close win in the 400 freestyle relay. Illinois’ team of senior Amy Downing, sophomore Meghan Farrell, junior Christina Brunka and sophomore Barbie Viney edged out Indiana’s “A” squad, finishing in 3:29.73, while the Hoosiers touched the wall in 3:30.14.

“We put together some good relays,” Novitsky said. “Obviously the last relay was very exciting; the time that they put up was equal to what they won in at the Indiana Invite.”

And while the Illini were not able to pull out the win, Novitsky said she was happy with how the meet turned out.

“What I wanted them to see is that we can swim with top teams,” Novitsky said. “Is it going to be easy? No, but we have the talent and we just have to keep finding ways to keep on improving.”

Diving Depth

Illinois’ divers took fifth and sixth place in both the one-meter and three-meter events. While the finishes were not as high as the Illini would have liked, the Hoosiers proved to be tough opponents.

“We had serious competition today,” said diving coach Billy McGowan. “This is as good as it gets in terms of the diving teams in this conference. There’s a little intimidation there; that’s a factor, especially for Abbey (Bernardo), who’s a freshman.”

McGowan said Bernardo and sophomore Jackie Bain are performing on par with what he expects at this point in the season. However, he said the meet against Indiana showed him where the two still need work.

“They’re starting their dives well, they’re in the dives well,” McGowan said. “And now we have to start finishing it, kicking out, putting them in the water a little cleaner.”

Senior Send-off

Saturday was Illinois’ last home meet of the season, and therefore doubled as Senior Day for the Illini’s four senior swimmers.

Seniors freestylers Amy Dowing, Colleen Gorman and Kirsten Koepcke and breaststroker Trisha Lakatos were honored at the meet, receiving flowers and gifts from teammates.