Jan. 13, 2006
CHICAGO, Ill. -
Friday night's competition ended after a very long process for Illinois State's swimming and diving team. The meet began at 5p.m. in the UIC Natatorium and ended after a long five hour competition against Illinois-Chicago and Ball State. The `Birds took a 1-1 victory on Friday the thirteenth beating Illinois Chicago (160-81), but fell to Ball State (169-73). After returning home from a 10-day Florida trip the team was happy to compete in front of a large audience full of their fans and felt that it added to their success,
Head coach Steve Paska was pleased with the way things went even though the meet took longer than usual.
"Tonight was a long process," said Paska. "Things just took longer than normal, but I thought the girls persevered. Everything went according to plan. There were some fantastic swims from all three schools, and I was pleased with the way we performed."
The distance group which includes Christine Steinbach, Jennifer Klicka and Jamie Haseman stepped up and showed a steady performance in their events, 1000-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle, for this time of the season. Brittany Armstrong also added to the team's success by taking second place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.94. Kyle Pullman had another consistent performance in the 50-yard freestyle placing second with a time of 24.63.
"A lot of girls stepped up tonight," said Paska. "Tonight I was looking at a different team. I can really see all of the hard work and the training in their performances. We have a lot to be proud of. A lot of the races were close. We just fell a little short to Ball State. For tomorrow's competition I would like to see repeat performances and I look forward to it."
The diving team contributed to the overall victory with a first place finish on the three-meter from Emily Hirt. Hirt also placed second on the one-meter. Fellow teammate Kaitlin Schneider also contributed by placing sixth in the one-meter. Five of the divers competed in the one-meter and four on the three-meter. All of the members showed a consistent performance.
Head diving coach Tom Davidson felt that everyone did well.
"I was pleased with everything," said Davidson. "Most of the girls hit everything. Emily and Kaitlin did really well. Kaitlin worked on some changes and she really handled them well tonight. I can see the training trip in Florida paying off."
The Redbirds will have their second competition of the weekend in West Lafayette, Ind. against Purdue on Saturday, January 14 at 1p.m.
