Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois Swimming and Diving team won the Illini Fall Classic this weekend, taking first place with 1,059.5 total points. Southern Illinois finished second with 817.5, followed by Missouri (715), Illinois State (117) and Northern Illinois (47).

"I am happy with the way the team swam all weekend," Illini head coach Sue Novitsky said. "They came out and raced well. We have numerous season-best times. Two of our freshmen, Kirsten Koepcke and Trisha Lakatos, came out and broke into the school's all-time top 10 today, and that's a huge confidence builder for them."

Koepcke broke into the school's top-10 in the 1000 free, winning the event in a time of 10:18.91 that was good for eighth-fastest in school history. Lakatos, who won the 200 breast in a time of 2:21.45 to rank seventh all-time in school history in that event.

Koepcke and Lakatos weren't the only Illini to turn in strong swims. In the morning session, the 200 yard medley relay team of Alison Czmarko, Ilkay Dikmen, Astrid Matthias and Ashley Braun won in 1:47.08, while Matthias took individual honors in the 100 fly with a winning time of 57.93. Senior All-American Jessica Aveyard won the 200 free in a time of 1:54.62 and Dikmen won the 100 breast in 1:05.00. Illinois also won the 800 free relay to close out the morning session as Jen Peters, Crystal McAdam, Amy Downing and Jessica Aveyard teamed to clock a winning time of 7:48.45.

In the evening session, Illinois swam just as well. After Koepcke opened up with a win in the 1000 free, Aveyard took the 200 back in a time of 2:01.07. And after Lakatos won the 200 breast, Matthias won the 200 fly in a time of 2:09.27. Illinois closed out the competition with a win in the final event, the 400 free relay, as Czmarko, McAdam, Matthias and Braun teamed to win in 3:33.76.