UIC took on three powerful teams in Evanston Friday night, swimming against Northwestern, the University of Chicago, and Illinois' women.  Both squads fell to their Big Ten foes, but the men and women each won their matchups with Chicago.

The Flames' men showed their depth in the distance free events with three swimmers in the top five of the 1000 and 500 free.  Connor Homans won the 50 yard sprint as well.  On the women's side, Lexie Joy had a first and a second place finish.  The 200 breaststroke race saw Flames claim two of the top three spots.

Individual Highlights – Men

• Hunter Crook was second in the 1000 free, with freshman Gavin Wicklander and Nick Koto also finishing in the top five. 
• Flames dominated the 500 free.  Crook took second in 4:43.10, with Luke Hutchinson in third, Koto in fourth, and Wicklander in sixth.
• Michael Tegeler was third in the 200 free, just two hundredths behind the second place swimmer.  He went on to finish sixth in the 200 back.
• Mitch Milosch's time of :50.99 in the 100 back was good for fourth place.  He finished third in the 100 fly.
• Danny Sivak swam to a second place finish in the 100 breast.
• Hutchinson settled for second in a very close 200 fly, getting out-touched by .06 seconds.
• Connor Homans won the 50 free in :21.21.  He swam the 100 in :47.52, good for fourth.
• Josh Dellorto was sixth in the 100 free.
• Joe Perez took third in the 200 breast.  Evan Johnson was sixth.
• Nathan Jesko had the team's highest finish in the 400 IM (fourth, 4:14.20).

Individual Highlights – Women

• Christina Neri took fourth in the 1000 free, in 10:33.49.
• Lexie Joy had the fastest time in the 200 free, winning in 1:51.39.  Maddie Hammer was seventh.
• Hannah Olsen and Anna Scovill were sixth and seventh in the 100 back, each finishing in under a minute.
• Lauren Johnson paced the Flames in the 50 free with a time of :24.35, taking fourth.  She was the team's top finisher in the 100 free, placing fifth in :52.95.
• Abby Kunze's time of 2:09.82 in the 200 back was good for seventh place.
• Jessica Amyette and Becca Ballo were second and third in the 200 breast.  Amyette finished in 2:26.95 with Bello touching the wall less than three tenths later.
• Joy was second in the 500 free.  Neri and Morgan Bosse were sixth and seventh.
• Nikki Eyssen, Mariah Clemons, and Annette Lesnicki finished fifth through seventh in the 100 fly.

Relay Highlights – Men

• UIC's 200 medley relay team (Ruppel, Sivak, Milosch, Homans) came in third behind two Northwestern squads.
• The 400 free relay team of Milosch, Tegeler, Dellorto, and Homans was the second place finisher.
• Flames teams also took fourth and fifth in the 400 free relay.

Relay Highlights – Women

• The Flames took third and fifth in the 400 free relay.
• Joy, Scovill, Johnson, and Misha Neal comprised the third place A-team.
• Bosse, Dani Cabrera, Beth Kelzer, and Eyssen were the fifth place finishers.

Diving Highlights – Men

• A trio of Wildcat divers took the top three spots in the 1-meter event, but Felix LaFortune, Andrew Lewarchick, and Ryan Murphy were right behind them in fourth through sixth places respectively.
• The Flames took places two through four in the 3-meter competition.  Lewarchick led the pack, with LaFortune and Murphy coming next.

Diving Highlights – Women

• Cydney Liebenberg took second on the 3-meter board with a score of 275.40. 
• Natalie Williams was less than two points shy of breaking the 200 mark.
• Liebenberg was third in 1-meter, with Kallie Zuidema in sixth and Williams taking eighth.

Up Next

• The Flames will continue their back-to-back weekend at Olivet Nazarene Saturday at 1:00 pm.
• Both squads will swim against the host Tigers, with the women also taking on Butler.