Illinois flew to Miami, Florida, for a two-day dual meet against Florida International University and the University of Miami at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center on Friday and Saturday.

The team ended the first day of competition trailing FIU 151-92 and Miami 126-114. There was some fatigue toward the end from traveling, but Illinois kept fighting through the entire session, according to the head coach Sue Novitsky.

Sophomore Abigail Cabush was a top performer in the meets, according to Novitsky. Cabush collected first place in two individual events. She earned firsts in the 500-yard and 200-yard freestyles with a time of 5:01.57 and 1:50.38, respectively. Senior Kristen Anderson won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 0:23.62. Sophomore Sarah Cano and senior Rebecca Corzine both earned third-place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and the 50-yard butterfly with times of 0:57.54 and 0:26.10, respectively.

Illinois had to turn around and get ready for another session on Saturday morning following the first day of competition on Friday.

“(The turn around was) good practice for them to get used to that feeling of fatigue and knowing that they can still step up and really compete well,” Novitsky said. 

Prior to Illinois’ two-day outing in Florida, the team had a week off from competition. During the week, the team received several Big Ten weekly awards. Cabush was named Swimmer of the Week and sophomore Taylor Shegos earned Diver of the Week.

Cabush is the first Illini to earn Swimmer of the Week since 2015, and Shegos is the first to earn Diver of the Week since 2009. The previous week, Cabush won two 200-yard freestyles and the 500-yard freestyle. She won five out of the seven individual races she competed in. Similarly, Shegos had three NCAA zone-qualifying scores over the past weekend and has clinched the top score in six out of eight events so far.

Novitsky said it’s nice to see the women’s hard work paying off.

Illinois will compete in the Texas Hall of Fame Diving Invitational in Austin, Texas on Nov. 20.

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