Oct. 19, 2006
Normal, Ill. -
Three Illinois State swimmers, Emily Richardson, Christine Steinbach and Alison Wippermann, will be competing in front of hometown fans this weekend as the team travels south on Saturday to St. Peters, Mo., to compete in a meet hosted by Lindenwood University. The competition, which will take place at the Rec-Plex, will feature Illinois State, Lindenwood, Saint Louis and Rose-Hulman starting at 1:00 p.m.
Head coach Steve Paska, who's team is still battling some injuries, is focusing on the competition that will come from Saint Louis, which has a current 40 dual-meet winning streak in progress.
"We're still at the same stage in determining the fate of some of the swimmers in terms of whether or not some of them will be able to compete or not," said Paska. "I, however, think the swimmers are at a phase where they know the competition is going to be more competitive this weekend, especially with SLU being at the competition. The Bilikens have a huge dual-meet winning streak going, so they have a rich tradition and very solid team coming into this competition."
Paska is pleased some of the swimmers will be able to swim in front of friends and family.
"We have a few swimmers from the St. Louis area swimming this weekend, so it should be a fun atmosphere in addition to a competitive one," Paska said. "We have some alumni who will be coming out to support our team, as well as, a few recruits who are considering Illinois State."
Divers Katie Janonis and Kaitlin Zaumseil will have a busy weekend competing in two meets. The two Redbirds will compete in Missouri and will then join their teammates to compete in the Illinois-Chicago Diving Invitational on Sunday. Diving coach Alison Cipri knows it will be an intense weekend for these two particular divers.
"Janonis and Zaumseil will have a tough weekend as they will be competing Saturday, driving to Chicago and then competing again on Sunday," said Cipri. "Katie has a few more difficult dives which could qualify her for the NCAA Zones if she performs them well this weekend. She is very consistent on the 1-meter board, which is the board she wants to qualify on. Kaitlin has also been looking really well in practice. All-in-all, it should be a weekend full of success for our divers."
