Propelled by second-place finishes by Terra Whisman in one-meter diving, the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay teams, the Illinois State swimming and diving team finds itself in fourth-place behind Southern Illinois, Evansville and Southwest Missouri State after day one of competition at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
Whisman, a freshman from Indianapolis, Ind., just missed her first conference title by one point. Freshman teammate Krystal Featherston cracked the top five while Alison Kouba placed 10th and Kate Johnson 11th.
They fulfilled every expectation and really stepped up today, diving coach Laura Segerlin said. Terra and Krystal were on fire in the finals and were very solid. They had a phenomenal night and have made a mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The 200 free relay team got off to a quick start with Angie Rawlins clocking a personal best 24.45 in the first leg. Seniors Brittany Erickson, Deborah Birrer and Lindsay Crowder kept up the fast pace, finishing in 1:36.99, .05 seconds behind first-place Southwest Missouri State.
The 400 medley relay time also got off to a fast start with Andrea Neubauer swimming a season best in the backstroke (59.79). Rawlins, Diana Cirstea and Nicole DuCharme followed up Neubauer and finished in second with a time of 3:52.68.
In the 50 free, Crowder clocked 24.34 for fourth-place while Erickson set a personal best with 24.53 in sixth. Also setting personal bests were MaryAnne Cooper in the 500 free with 5:05.14 and a fourth-place finish. Heather Norris collected ninth-place with 5:08.89 in the 500. Diana Cirstea covered the 200 IM course in 2:11.70, a new personal best, earning 12th-place.
We looked a little tentative in the preliminaries, but we came back in the finals and looked like a much better team, head swim coach
Steve Paska said. The meet has gone somewhat according to plan. We didnt get off to the greatest start, but I was proud that we came back with a vengeance.
Events continue tomorrow through Saturday at the SIU Recreation Center Pool. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m both days with finals staring at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday.
