Illinois State posted a victory over Illinois-Chicago Friday night in its dual meet on the road, beating the Flames with a final score of 183.50-111.50. Head coach
Steve Paska said the meet was actually a lot closer than the score would convey.
The first couple of races in this meet were very close, said Paska. We ended up winning the first event by just a couple of seconds. But winning the first few close races helped us gain the momentum we needed to finish strong. If we hadnt won those first few this could have been a whole different meet.
Illinois State had four swimmers post double-event victories with Jenny Klicka winning the 1000 free (10.47.08) and 500 free(5.16.66), Katie Finan earning first in the 200 free (1.59.54) and 100 fly (1.00.53), Julie Cocks taking the 200 fly (2.12.83) and 200 back (2.12.86) and Kyle Pullman winning the 50 free (25.00) and 100 free (54.56).
The Birds posted a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 backstroke, with Stefanie Starck in first (1.01.90), Monique Witkowski in second (1.02.62) and Simone Leger in third (1.03.24). Lisa Hanrahan recorded a personal best in the 200 free (2.03.82), while Casey McKittrick recorded a personal best time in the 1000 free (11.06.25). The Redbirds ended up winning every event in the meet, except for the 200 breaststroke and 200 free relay.
On the diving side Krystal Featherston was also a double-event winner, earning first-place honors in the one-meter (254.99) and three-meter diving events (256.80). Featherston missed qualifying for the NCAA Zone Meet by one-hundredth of a second in the one-meter.
Terra Whisman recorded a second-place finish in the one-meter (242.77) and a third-place finish in the three-meter (241.27), while teammate Emily LaVoie finished fourth in both the one-meter (235.94) and three-meter (229.12) events.
Diving coach Carly Weiden was pleased with the divers performance, especially in the one-meter event.
Everyone dove very well tonight, said Weiden. They were strong and consistent on the one-meter, especially. This was real good to have for our first meet back and Im very happy with how we performed tonight.
The Birds return to the water January 23-24 for the Bill Ritter Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.
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