Illinois Athletes Advance Or Fall Short At London Olympics
Updated 8/4/12 at 1:27 p.m.
LONDON (WBBM) – Christina Loukas advanced to the finals of the Women's 3-meter Springboard competition on Saturday with a sixth place showing in the semifinals. The Riverwoods-native will compete in the finals Sunday in London. In 2008, she finished ninth in the competition.
Later Saturday, Matt Grevers has another chance to win a medal. He swims the final in the Men's 4x100-meter Medley Relay with Michael Phelps, Brendan Hansen and Nathan Adrian. The event is scheduled for 2:27pm CDT. The U-S is a strong contender for the gold. Grevers, a Lake Forest-native, has won a gold and silver medal at the London Olympics.
Evan Jager earned a spot in the Men's Steeplechase Finals after finishing second in the Track & Field qualifying heat on Friday. The Algonquin-native and 2007 Jacobs High graduate finished with a time of 8:16.61 to qualify for the finals scheduled for Sunday at 3:25pm CDT. His time was 10 seconds slower than his personal-best. Jager, 23, won four state titles in high school track and cross country.
Gia Lewis-Smallwood of Champaign failed to make the finals of the Women's Discus at the London Olympics. The Champaign Centennial and University of Illinois graduate had a best throw of 61.44 meters in Friday's qualifying round. She scratched on her first attempt and her other throw was 61.25 meters. The cutoff for qualifying was 63 meters for the field of 35.
Tyler McGill finished seventh in the final of the Men's 100 Meter Butterfly on Friday, a showing that brought an abrupt end to his first Summer Games. McGill swam in 51.88 seconds, 0.67 seconds behind Michael Phelps' time of 51.21. Phelps won the gold.
