Jan. 19, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After back-to-back meets last weekend, the Illinois State swimming and diving team will be back on the road this weekend to compete in the Bill Ritter Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis. This will be the fifth consecutive appearance for the Redbirds at the Invitational which begins Friday, January 20 at 4:30 p.m.
Coming off a second place finish at the meet in 2005, the `Birds will be competing against four schools in 2006 including last week's opponent Illinois-Chicago, UW-Green Bay, Marquette and UW-Milwaukee. After competing on Friday, the team will return to action on Saturday, with the first session beginning at 9:30 a.m. and the second session starting at 3:30 p.m.
Head coach Steve Paska knows that the Invitational will be a swimming challenge.
"We want to make sure they know what is ahead," said Paska. "They have to be tough minded for this meet. It is a really challenging format and they need to us a mental approach to succeed. They need to be able to rise to the challenge and remain focused."
After two grueling meets last weekend, the `Birds had a solid week of practice to prepare for another jam packed weekend of competition. Paska believes this weekend will prepare his team for the final stretch of the season.
"This is a great time for us," said Paska. "We are four weeks away from conference and where we want to be. This weekend will give the coaching staff a chance to evaluate the entire team to see where everyone is at in the water for the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference Championships."
The Redbird divers, including last week's Valley Diver of Week Emily Hirt, will be competing at the Invitational on Friday at 11 a.m. The team will be finished before the swimmers begin, but their scores will contribute to the overall team score.
Head diving coach Tom Davidson is looking forward to some repeat performances.
"We have already competed against some of these divers and we know what to expect," said Davidson. "I want our six divers to perform as well as they did against Purdue. This competition this weekend is closer to our level and our ability on the boards. We will do well as long as they stay consistent with what we have done during practice."
