Jan. 12, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State swimming and diving team are back in the Midwest and ready to compete. This weekend the team will be competing in back-to-back meets on Friday and Saturday. They will start the weekend off competing against Illinois-Chicago and Ball State at the UIC Natatorium on Friday January, 13 at 5p.m. The second meet of the weekend will be held on Saturday, January 14 at Purdue.
Head coach Steve Paska is looking forward to the weekend of competition and being in front of fans again.
"Friday will be a festive evening for us," said Paska. "Going up to compete in Chicago is always a good time. A lot of the girls are from the area. Our team has a lot of fans, family and alumni who come out to see us when we compete in the city. It always helps to have fans in the crowd. "
The UIC-Ball State meet will be the first competition of the weekend and will allow the `Birds the opportunity to gain a double dual-meet success. This will be the first meet the team has competed against since they returned home from their 10-day Florida trip.
"UIC has an up-and-coming program," said Paska. "They are always ready to race and compete. Ball State is deep, strong and fast in every event. The meet will be very competitive against all three schools. I know our team will rise to the challenge."
After Friday's double dual-meet, the `Birds will head to West Lafayette, Ind., to compete against Purdue on Saturday at 1p.m. The team is eager to compete against the Boilermakers and be in their top-notch facility.
Coach Paska has had previous professional experience with head coach Cathy Write-Eger and is looking forward to competing against her team.
"Cathy was my assistant coach for a small amount of time in the 80's," said Paska. "She has done an amazing job with the program at Purdue and I respect what she does. We will be competing against a strong Boilermaker squad. They have a fabulous institution and their facility is the finest in the mid-west."
