Kansas Butterfly Prowess Leads to Win over Illinois
Kansas scored big points in butterfly in a tightly contested women’s meet Saturday, picking up a nonconference 169-131 win over Illinois.
Kansas went 1-2 in both butterfly events. It made a difference in an engrossing meet that featured thrilling sprint events and two tight relays.
Amelie Lessing and Hailey Farrell went 1-2 in the women’s 200 butterfly. Lessing won in 2:05.30, and Farrell edged her way into second place by .06 seconds.
In the 100 fly, Lydia Lafferty won in 55.99 with Lessing second in 56.55.
Lessing swam fly on the Jayhawks’ 200 medley relay, joining Lezli Sisung, Ryan Johnston and Caroline Blake to win by 0.17 seconds. The race was so tight that no split between the schools’ A squads was more than four tenths.
Kansas won both diving events. Lize Van Leeuwen scored 309.75 to prevail on 3-meter. She was third on 1-meter to teammates Shiyun Lai (272.63) and Gabriela San Juan Carmona.
Claudia Dougan won the 200 free in 1:54.07. She came out on top of the 100 free field in 52.53.
The 50 free was a big coup for Kansas, with Blake winning in 24.10 and Keyla Brown tying for second in 24-17 with Illinois’ Laurel Bludgen. The five scorers in the event were separated by .28 seconds, and 11 total swimmers in the event were clustered within .91 seconds.
Johnston won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.64 for Kansas and finished second in the 200 breast. Farrell was third in the 500 free and third in the 200 IM.
Illinois’ Sydney Stoll led the Illini’s efforts. She won the 100 backstroke in 56.06, edging out Sisung by .09 seconds in another sensational race. Stoll’s 200 back was much more decisive, in 2:02.11. And she added the 200 individual medley crown in 2:04.75.
The latter swim was a 1-2 with Sara Jass, who won the 200 breast in 2:19.01 and finished second in the 200 free. Adelaide Reaser won the 500 free and 1,000 free for Illinois. Bludgen, Lily Olson, Kylee Sessions and Margaret Adler went 3:30.82 to cap the meet with a win in the 400 free relay.
