Oct. 22, 2005
St. Charles, Mo. -
Illinois State swimming and diving took a first place finish scoring 115 points up against St Louis, (108), Lindenwood (36), and Webster (1). The meet was tied up after the first half between the Redbirds and SLU. Going onto the second half St. Louis broke the tie and took the lead. The `Birds were not going to go under easy and kept the competition going strong. For their hard efforts and persistency the meet ended with a victory for the Redbirds.
"This was a great meet, it came down to the last relay," head coach Steve Paska said. "A lot of the girls swam very well and I am pleased with the outcome."
Christine Steinbach, Jennifer Klicka, Rebekah Layman, and Jamie Haseman clenched the overall first-place victory for the Redbirds in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 7:55.72. Placing first in other events included; Steinbach, in the 1000 freestyle; Zaleski, in the 50 freestyle; and Monique Witkowski, Katie Borkovec, Jenna Allie, and Valerie Zaleski, also took first in the 200 freestyle relay. Klicka placed second in the 1000 free continuing the success and locked the top two spots for the team in that event.
"This was a team effort," said Paska. "The second and third place finishes really helped our team come out victorious."
Not only did the swimming team have stand out performances, but the diving team had some accomplishments of its own. Emily Hirt took a first place finish in the three-meter board achieving the night's best score. Katie Janonis followed up with a second place finish on the three-meter, securing the top two spots for the Redbirds. The divers high placing contributed to the overall win for the team.
"I am happy with their performances," head diving coach Tom Davidson said. "They did everything that I was looking for and I looking forward to see the continued success.
The diving team will be traveling to the University of Illinois Chicago for the Diving Invitational tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Redbirds next meet will be home for the Red/White scrimmage on Saturday, October 29, at 8:30 a.m.
