Maggie Love’s Three Wins, Dominant Divers Lead Purdue Past Illinois

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 13: Kate Beavon in the 100m freestyle for women during the heats session on day 5 of the SA National Aquatic Championships and Olympic Trials on April 13 , 2016 at the Kings Park Aquatic Center pool in Durban, South Africa. Photo Credit / Anesh Debiky/Swim SA

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Maggie Love Wins Three, Dominant Divers Lead Purdue Past Illinois

Maggie Love won three races, and Purdue’s dominant diving contingent tallied vital points to spoil Illinois’ Senior Day with a 158.5-141.5 win in Champaign.

Love swept both breaststroke events, but the key matchup came in the 200 individual medley late in the meet, with the final result in the balance. Love went head-to-head with Sydney Stoll, who had already won the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke. Love managed to outsplit Stoll on the backstroke leg, then bested her by 1.4 seconds in breaststroke, enough to hold off Stoll’s superior finishing charge.

Love clocked in at an even 2:04.00, .85 up on Stoll. Earlier, Love had gone 1:04.58 to win the 100 breast, edging teammate Masy Folcik by five hundredths. Love’s winning margin in the 200 was more than two seconds at 2:17.66.

The cornerstone of the Boilermakers’ diving came up clutch. Daryn Wright won the 1-meter event with a score of 321.60, 10 points up on teammate Sophia McAfee as the Boilermakers took the top four positions. They went 1-2-3 on 3-meter, Wright winning with a 354.53.

Kate Beavon swept the distance events for Purdue, handling claiming the 500 free and 1,000 free. Abby Marcukaitis won the 100 back and was second to Stoll (2:03.05) in the 200 back. Hannah Hill was second in both sprint events.

Illinois claimed both relay victories, capturing the 200 medley by .1 seconds and the 200 free by .14. Lily Olson, Athena Salafatinos and Isabelle Guerra were part of both foursomes. Not among them was the top sprinter of the day, the Illini’s Laurel Bludgen, who won the 50 free in 23.60 and the 100 free 51.75. Salafatinos was second in the 100 back, and Olson tied for third in the 100 free.

Cara Bognar won the 200 fly and finished second in the 1,000 free. Third in the latter was Liv Dorshorst, who finished second in the 500. Alexis Wendell also won the 100 fly for Illinois.

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