CHICAGO (Jan. 19, 2024) – The UIC swimming and diving team battled to the last event against UChicago at the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center Friday but came up short in the dual meet, with both teams losing by just two points between the men's (149-147) and women's (150-148).
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ASHLEY DELL
"I couldn't be prouder of our team right now. They competed against a top Division III program with such grit from start to finish. For it to come down to the last relay is a testament to the amount of hard work they've put in the last month. I love the fight in this team and I can't wait to see how they carry this momentum into the next weekend. We are in a really solid place right now."
COMMENT FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH/HEAD DIVING COACH SUSAN BROMBERG
"Tonight was a great start to 2024. It was great seeing three of our divers reach lifetime-best scores and see
Harrison Nolan break the school record in the one-meter event!"
DIVING
Men's
- Sophomore Harrison Nolan (Riverside, Ill./Riverside Brookfield) etched his name into the UIC record books on the one meter diving board, finishing with a score of 370.95 points. He surpassed Felix Lafortune's mark set in 2020, when the Gatineau, Canada native scored 350.05 points back in 2020. Junior Cole Tremewan (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) placed second (312.30 points) and sophomore Bruno Carrillo (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) finished third (286.05 points) to give the Flames a sweep of the top three spots in the event.
- Nolan (386.33 points), Tremewan (343.35 points) and Carrillo (300.45 points) once again swept the top-three spots on the podium on the three-meter diving board. Senior Hunter Trautmann (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson), placed fourth in the event, finishing with a score of 263.85 points.
- Freshman Sami Kassir (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) earned a career-high mark on the three-meter board with a score of 239.63 points.
Women's
- On the three-meter diving board, junior Ciara McCliment (Farmington Hills, Mich./Mercy ) placed second, finishing with a score of 261.30 points. Right behind her in third place was sophomore Kerry-Leigh Morrison (Gauteng, South Africa/ St. Mary's) at 261.23 points.
- Sophomore Kathryn Kleckza (Franklin, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels) placed fourth on the three-meter board with a career-high 244.58 points, surpassing her 242.93 point performance against Illinois State on Oct. 21.
- Morrison finished her night in second place on the three-meter diving board with a score of 245.33 points. McCliment placed third in the event, scoring 238.73 points.
SWIMMING
Men's
- After coming close to a first-place finish in the 100 back, junior Luke Wiesner (Chicago, Ill./West Chicago Community) won the 200 back later in the meet with a time of 1:53.78.
- Freshman James McCarthy (Minnetonka, Minn./DeLaSalle) earned a win in the men's 200 breast with a 2:09.09 finish.
- Junior Daniel Galinski (Elmwood Park, Ill./Elmwood Park) started the meet with a win in the men's 100 breast (56.37 seconds) and recorded two second place finishes in the 200 breast (2:06.63) and the 100 individual medley (52.64 seconds).
- Senior Rafe Dolan-Peterson (Austin, Minn./Austin) earned a pair of wins in the 100 fly (50.57 seconds) and in the 100 free (46.23 seconds).
Women's
- Senior Taira Juronis (Palos Hills, Ill./Alonzo Amos Stagg) collected an early individual win in the 100 breast (1:05.78) and a win in the 200 breast (2:24.47). She also had a second-place finish in the women's individual medley with a 1:00.88 finish.
- Sophomore Madison Helmick (Bingham Farms, Mich./Birmingham Groves) tallied a first place finish in the 100 free with a time of 53.02 seconds. She also finished second in the 200 free with a 1:54.02 finish.
- Junior Kendra Preski (Springfield, Ill./Glenview) placed first in the 200 back, finishing in 2:06.53. Seconds behind her in second place was sophomore Isabella Drake (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) in a time of 2:08.09.
- Drake earned the win in the women's 100 back with a 58.88 finish. Freshman Sophie Stefanac (Fenton, Mich./Fenton) finished in second place with a time of 59.63 seconds.
UP NEXT
UIC returns to Flames Natatorium Friday, Jan. 26 to host Evansville and Missouri State in a tri-meet set to begin at 5 p.m. (CT). Admission is free to the public, and fans are encouraged to follow on Meet Mobile, downloadable on both Apple and Android phones.
The tri-meet will also be UIC's Senior Day, with 11 seniors being honored in a post-meet ceremony.
For more information, fans are encouraged to visit
UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_SwimDive and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uic_swimdive and
@uicflames).
#ChicagosCollegeTeam | #FireUpFlames
