Omaha natives Rachelle Herd and Melissa Fry have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Illinois State as members of the Redbird swimming and diving team.
A four-year state qualifier, Herd became Millard Wests first female swimming state champion after being a member of the 400 free relay championship team as a sophomore. Her sophomore year, she finished third in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 200 IM. The following year Herd placed fourth in both the 100 back and 200 IM. As a senior, Herd captained Millard West to its second runner-up trophy in two years, and finished third in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 back at the state meet.
Redbird coach
Steve Paska anticipates Herd, who plans to major in psychology, will swim the 200 back and IM with the potential of swimming the 400 IM. Herd chose Illinois State over Providence College, Illinois-Chicago, Nebraska-Omaha, Nebraska and Colorado College.
Rachelles going to add quality depth to our backstroke group. Her time in the 100 and 200 will definitely give us depth in the dual meets as well as in conference, Paska said. The 200 IM is one event in which she will contribute significantly. She has a love of swimming and a tremendous passion to succeed.
It has been my dream and goal to compete at the college level with a team that is so well-rounded, said Herd. I feel that Illinois State is the place for me because it offers me everything that I want in a school. Its a great place to be, a great team and coach, and of course a great place to continue academically.
Fry comes to Illinois State from Millard South High School. At the state meet, Fry took third-place in the 100 butterfly as a freshman and sophomore. As a junior, Fry was the runner-up in the 100 backstroke and was all-state in the 100 fly. A team captain both junior and senior seasons, Fry is a member of the National Honor Society and an all-academic swimmer.
Fry will see time swimming the sprint butterfly events as well as in the backstroke. She selected Illinois State over Northern Colorado, Northern Michigan, Wyoming, Southwest Missouri State and Nebraska.
Melissa and Rachelle are kind of mirror images of each other, Paska said. Melissa will provide a big lift in the spring fly. Shes very outgoing and friendly, and has all of the characteristics we are looking for in a Redbird swimmer. I expect big things from her throughout her career at Illinois State.
