Oct. 20, 2005
Normal, Ill. -
The Illinois State swimming and diving team will be traveling to St. Charles, Mo. on Saturday, October 22 for the Lindenwood meet against Lindenwood, Webster, and St. Louis. However, on Sunday the diving team will go its separate way, looking to bring home a first place victory at University of Illinois Chicago Diving Invitational for the second year in a row.
Head coach Steve Paska is looking forward to the busy weekend.
"The team is looking forward to competing again after a bit of a layoff," said Paska. "This is the first time as a team that we will compete in St. Louis. Many of the girls are from the area and they are excited to have a meet in front of their hometown fans."
The swimming and diving team has had two weeks of preparation since its last meet at the Dennis Stark Relays at Notre Dame in October. Paska is looking forward to competing in a different format than the previous meet and is anxious to showcase his student-athletes' individual talents.
"This meet is interesting," Paska said. "It will give us the opportunity to have a three dual meet success. The format of this meet will allow our swimmers to swim some of their best events. The dual meet format will allow the team to be closer to where we need to be as a team."
Last season, Valley Diver of the Year Krystal Featherston and teammates secured a first place victory at the UIC Invitational. Featherston placed first in the one-meter with a final score of 251.90, adding to the final team score of 119.0. This year's team looks to model after last season's success and add some new moves to the boards.
"I am eager to see if the corrections I have made with the individual divers will hold," head diving coach Tom Davidson said. "I want to focus on making the corrections work. The Invitational will help the divers see what they need to work on and what they are doing well for future meets."
The swimming and diving team's next meet will be the annual Red/White scrimmage for Saturday, October 29, at 8:30 a.m. This will be the Redbirds' first home meet of the season at Horton Pool.
