Illinois’ four representatives at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships made the most of their spring break appearance, setting a new school record in one of the contingent’s strongest events.

Senior Christina Brunka and juniors Meghan Farrell, Rebecca Poetz and Barbie Viney represented Illinois at the meet, held at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.

The Illini finished 18th in both the 200 and 400 free relays. The group’s 200 free relay time of 1:31.54 was just two finishes below the cut for the ‘B’ finals.

But the Illini showed their strength in the 400 free relay, where they finished in 3:22.00. That time was .36 seconds better than the squad’s seedtime, and set a new record for the University.

“It was very exciting. It was a very tough meet, but being able to finish with that race definitely made it worthwhile,” Viney said. “Meghan Farrell had a great race that got us off on a great start, and we just finished it up really well.”

Three Illini competed in individual races. On the first day of competition, Farrell led the Illini in the 50 free, where she finished in 23.18 for 39th place. Viney finished in 23.52 for 61st place, and Poetz touched the wall in 23.91.

Farrell later swam the 100 free individual race in 50.2 seconds, while swimming a 49.73 split while leading off Illinois’ relay.

“It was good to see Meghan swim well because that was her first national-level meet,” coach Sue Novitsky said. “It can be kind of intimidating in that atmosphere.”

Viney was the only Illinois swimmer to compete on March 17, appearing in the 200 freestyle race. She finished in 1:49.79 for 43rd place.

In the final day of competition, Viney finished the 100 free in 49.71 seconds for 21st place. Her time was three-tenths of a second too slow to qualify for the consolation finals. Viney struggled with a bad ankle sprain in the weeks leading up to the NCAA meet, and had to cut back on her training as a result. She said that led to finishes that fell short of her goals.

“As far as my meet, it was very tough, mentally straining but also physically,” Viney said. “I was able to work through it, the meet didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, but that happens.”

Auburn won the meet overall, scoring 518.5 points, while host Georgia came in second with 515.5 points. Wisconsin was the only Big Ten program to finish among the top 10 teams, finishing in ninth place with 146 points.

While Illinois did not break into the top groups in any race, they achieved minor victories just in sending four swimmers to the season’s culminating meet. Walking away with a school record only added to the success.

“I always think any kind of national level experience you can get, the better,” Novitsky said. “You just keep getting better every time you get there.”