In most cases, a win against a non-conference opponent is nothing to get excited about.

But when you haven’t beaten that opponent since George Bush (Sr.) was president, there is reason to celebrate.

The NIU women’s swim team’s 64-49 win against Illinois State on Friday marked the first time it has defeated it’s in-state rival since 1989. NIU fell to their other opponent, Illinois, 81-31.

“Tonight was a total team effort,” head coach Anne Marie Stricklin said. “Everyone stepped up and contributed to this very sweet victory.”

On Friday, the Huskies got strong performances from the usual cast of characters.

Erika Nilsson’s best finish of the day came in the 200-yard butterfly. Nilsson finished second in the race with a time of 2:10.87. Nilsson also had strong races in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle clocking times of 1:58:43 and 5:14:83.

Andree Dallain had another strong performance Friday, clocking two impressive times in the 200-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle. Dallain’s times were just seconds behind Nilsson’s at 2:11:58 and 5:16:48.

“The two of them have both showed they can be put into any event and still give it their all,” Stricklin said of the two underclassmen. “They, with Amber Evans, combined to win a lot of points in our win.”

Evans, who sat out the early part of the season with an injury, took second place in the one-meter and third place in the three-meter contests. Her scores in both events were topped only by divers from the University of Illinois. Her score in the one-meter event was just three points behind the leader.

“The team was very excited and worked very hard for this victory, and I hope it will challenge us to work even harder,” Stricklin commented. “We are looking forward to finding out where we stand in the conference and some great competition in the next few weeks.”