Lilly Culp and Felix Lafortune each won an individual event championship at the final night of the Horizon League Championships in Indianapolis.  It was the third straight crown for each of them, in the 200 fly and 3-meter diving, respectively.

UIC's women racked up podium finishes as the team made a valiant surge toward third place in the team standings.  Christina Neri and Taira Juronis each claimed a third place finish, and Poleena Kovalaske had a runner-up swim.  Ultimately, the Flames finished fourth, just three points behind IUPUI.

The Flames men also finished the meet in fourth place.  They overtook Green Bay to move up one spot following Friday's events.

"After the week this team was put through and the circumstances they had to perform under, I've never been more proud of a program," Tim Loeffler said.  The Flames finished the meet with five individual championships, two individual and two relay runners-up, and 16 total podium finishes.


Culp took the lead in the 200 fly at the 100-yard mark and never looked back.  Despite swimming out of lane two, she showed the stamina that brought her two previous championships in the race and became UIC's second three-time winner in the event.  Her time of 2:01.39 was just fast enough to win by two-hundredths of a second.


Lafortune made it three 3-meter diving titles in a row, and his fourth total career diving championship.  He built a huge lead in the first half of the final round, with three dives scoring over 61 points each.  He faltered in his final dive, but still totaled 336.70 to win by over seven points.


Neri started the evening session with a third place swim in the grueling 1650 free.  Her time of 17:07.40 was the second fastest of her career.  It was her first career appearance on a Horizon League podium.


Kovalaske held the lead at the halfway mark of the 100 free.  She swam the back 50 in under 27 seconds to finish in second place in a career-best 50.73.


Juronis added to her breaststroke podium tally.  Earlier in the meet, she finished third in the 100.  On Saturday, she took third place in the 200.  She made a huge leap from her preliminary time and posted a career best 2:17.91.

Following the meet, Lafortune was named Male Diver of the Meet.  He finished second in the 1-meter event to go along with his 3-meter championship.  Cydney Liebenberg, a double champion sweeping both boards, was named Female Diver of the Meet.  It was the third straight honor for Lafortune, and the fourth for Liebenberg.

Susan Bromberg was named Women's Diving Coach of the Year, and co-Men's Diving Coach of the Year.

A-Final Results

• The Flames had a very strong showing in the women's 1650.  Ashton Amerman finished fourth, right behind Neri, as the team had four swimmers in the top 12.
• Jan Komorowski held off a fast-closing Youngstown State swimmer to secure fourth place in the 1650 free.  He improved one spot, and shaved 3.8 seconds off his time, from last year's conference meet.
• Lizzie Zeller swam the fastest 200 back of her career and finished fourth.
• Jeff Wiedoff was the last swimmer to qualify for the 100 free finals, and came in eighth.
• Ben Ramminger came in eighth in the 200 breast.
• Liam Davis took an eighth place finish in the 200 fly.
• Cole Tremewan qualified second in the 3-meter competition.  He finished in fifth place after scoring 290.85 in the final.

B-Final Results

• Victoria Thor came in ninth in the 1650, and Maddie Hawker came in 12^th.
• After swimming nearly a full mile, Liam Davis finished four-tenths of a second ahead of a challenger to take 13^th place in the 1650.
• Ashlee Weltyk contributed points with a 14^th place finish in the 200 back.
• Luke Weisner and Owen Zant finished consecutively in the 200 back, taking 12^th and 13^th places respectively.
• Kalie Landrum shaved a half-second off her preliminary time in the 100 free and finished 12^th.
• Josh Dellorto came in 12^th in the 100 free.
• Sam Malecki touched the wall 14^th in the 200 breast.
• Dan Galinski was consistent in his times from the prelims to the B-finals, and came in 13^th in the 200 breast.
• Izabella Del Rosario improved two spots from the prelims and finished 14^th in the 200 fly.
• Kyle Lewarchick was the 12^th place swimmer in the 200 fly.
• Hunter Trautmann set a career high in the consolation final and won the heat with a score of 286.10.

Relays

• Landrum, Zeller, Juronis, and Kovalaske closed the meet on a high note.  They combined to finish second in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:25.03.
• Wiedoff, Komorowski, Lewarchick, and Dellorto represented the Flames in the 400 free relay.  Their time of 3:01.93 was good for fifth.