Junior Sian Best was part of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team at Saturday's home meet. Gargoyle photo by Revathi Maturi (click to enlarge)

URBANA — The Killer Whales finished second in a tri meet Saturday with O'Fallon and Charleston in the team's first home contest in three years.

O'Fallon edged out Uni for first place with a score of 141, while Uni's score of 121 represented a decisive second-place finish over Charleston, which finished with 28 points.

The 20-point difference between O'Fallon — a school with 2,480 students — and Uni was a significant improvement over last year's meet, when the Panthers outscored Uni by almost 50 points, 145-98.

Junior Lisa Boyce, recent News-Gazette athlete of the week, led the way with first-place finishes in both the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 13.30 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (54.22).

The many disadvantages of Freer Pool, including lack of starting blocks, caused little hindrance to Uni swimmers. Many team members still recorded season and personal bests, despite the one or two seconds added from starting from the side of the pool.

The Killer Whales finished first in four events. Besides the two individual wins by Boyce, freshman Milee Nelson won the 200 free in 2:08.27, while the team of Nelson, junior Sian Best, junior Erika Belmont, and Boyce won the 200 free relay in 1:51.00.

Uni's 200 medley relay team of Boyce, Belmont, Best, and junior Maritza Mestre placed second with a time of 2:05.43.

Individually, second-place finishes went to Belmont in the 50 free (28.16), Best in the 100 backstroke (1:12.5), and Belmont in the 100 breaststroke (1:19.83).

The Killer Whales will swim again on Tuesday at a tri meet with Danville and Centennial.

Best Uni Times at Saturday's Home Meet

• 200 Medley Relay: Boyce/Belmont/Best/Mestre (2:05.43), 2nd
• 200 Freestyle: Milee Nelson (2:08.27), 1st
• 200 Individual Medley: Lisa Boyce (2:13.30), 1st
• 50 Free: Erika Belmont ( :28.16), 2nd
• 100 Butterfly: Deborah Ladd (1:17.43), 3rd
• 100 Freestyle: Lisa Boyce ( :54.22), 1st
• 500 Freestyle: Amalia Dolan (6:35.07), 3rd
• 200 Freestyle Relay: Nelson/Best/Belmont/Boyce (1:51.00), 1st
• 100 Backstroke: Sian Best (1:12.53), 2nd
• 100 Breaststroke: Erika Belmont (1:19.83), 2nd
• 400 Freestyle Relay: Allen/Ladd/Mestre/Nelson (4:22.50), 3rd

For updated information, visit coach Howie Schein's Web site.