Illinois swim & dive concludes regular season at UIC Diving Invitational
Photo courtesy of Illini Athletics
Sophomore diver Brooke Michael dives into the pool during a meet at the ARC. Michael’s had an average score of 6.69 at the invitational on Saturday.
February 5, 2022
Illinois concluded their regular season with three divers traveling to Chicago to compete in the UIC Diving Invitational.
Sophomores Brooke and Taylor Michael, alongside senior Taylor Shegos, represented Illinois in the contest.
“As a diving coach, I’m happy to see (Shegos) diving again because of her previous injuries,” said head diving coach KongRong (KR) Li. “She’s a great diver for sure, she’s experienced, very positive.”
Teams represented include UW-Eau Claire, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, University of Chicago, Lake Forest College, Carthage College and host UIC.
In the three-meter contest, the Michael twins got off to a hot start, shooting to the top of the rankings and making their presences known.
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Brooke Michael had an event average score of 6.69, while Taylor Michael held an average of 6.67.
Brooke finished the meet in third place behind UIC divers Cydney Liebenberg and Biara McCliment with a score of 304.70. Taylor finished in fifth with a score of 284.50, only slightly trailing UW-Milwaukee’s McKenzie Sanchez.
“They were going against great competition today,” Li said. “They both scored well, especially Brooke. They were both pretty confident today, especially as sophomores. They’re growing physically, mentally and getting healthier overall.”
In the one-meter dive, all three divers competed with Shegos, holding an event average score of 6.92, while Taylor and Brooke Michael held an average of 6.08 and 5.75, respectively.
By the end of the event, Shegos placed second behind Liebenberg with a score of 290.30, while Taylor and Brooke Michael held sixth and seventh place with scores of 251.80 and 232.70, respectively.
“In diving the focus is more on one’s self, but I want them to be challenged and still support each other and have a collective team effort with each other,” Li said. “I’m pretty happy how they’ve been preparing and training for competitions and they’re still improving everyday.”
Next up, coaches, swimmers and divers will take the next week and a half to mentally and physically prepare to head to Madison, Wisconsin, for the 2022 Big Ten Championship from Feb. 16-19.
See the official scores here.
@JonathanAlday7
