Competing in the second-largest collegiate meet in the nation, the Redbirds represented Illinois State well on Friday by finishing day one of the three-day Akron Invitational in third place against 14 competing schools.
Every event of the meet, with the exception of one, produced either a season-best or personal-best time for the Birds. Head coach
Steve Paska took pride in his team while explaining that the best is yet to come.
The tough competition, fantastic facilities, and preparation motivated the girls tonight, said Paska. Almost all our times tonight set season records and I expect our swimming to get even better as the meet continues.
The meet started off with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:37.31) by Angie Rawlins, Deb Birrer, Brittany Erickson and Lindsay Crowder. This set a new season best time for the Birds as did the ending relay of the day, the 400 medley relay. Andrea Neubauer, Angie Rawlins, Diana Cirstea and Lindsay Crowder brought the Redbirds to a third place finish in this event with a time of 3:56.48.
Other key events of the meet included Heather Norris fourth-place performance in the 500 freestyle (5:10.45), which was the teams best time of the season. A tenth-place finish in the 200 IM (2:12.56) also notched a new season and team best for senior Diana Cirstea, and freshman standout Sara Hayworth set a new personal best in the 500 freestyle event with a time of 5:12.86.
Senior co-captain Lindsay Crowder gave an excellent third-place performance tonight by setting a season-best time of 24.20 in the 50 freestyle event, only 4/100 of a second off of her all time best.
Lindsay has been a consistent swimmer for us all season, but she sure stepped up today, Paska said. She looked awesome in the water.
With two days left of competition, the third-place Redbirds have the championship within grasp but it will not be easy. Currently they trail The University of Buffalo (462) and Clarion University (389). Illinois State ended Fridays competition with 380 points. Last years champions, The University of Akron, are currently in sixth place with 290 points.
