Sept. 30, 2006
Normal, Ill. -
Illinois State swimmers and divers made quite the splash opening their season at Horton Pool Saturday morning. Seniors Jamie Haseman, Jennifer Klicka and Kyle Pullman paved the way during the traditional inter-squad Red and White Scrimmage which ended with the red team gaining bragging rights over the white team with a score of 239-161.
Head Coach Steve Paska was very pleased with the solid performances on both the team and individual levels.
"I feel we competed better in some events than others, but I don't think there was anything negative about this meet," said Paska. "It's something that is hard to describe, but I believe we made tremendous strides today."
Haseman set a personal best in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.34 and also won the 500 yard freestyle, 1,000 yard freestyle and was a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay. Pullman walked away with a first-place finish in the 50 yard freestyle. Coach Paska was extremely happy with the performance of Haseman, Klicka and Pullman.
"Jamie has trained very well," Paska said. "She has been really consistent, and I am very happy with her work ethic. I was glad to see her get off to a flying start. Jenny had an all-around solid performance, and Kyle is once again headed in the right direction. It looks like she will have a solid senior year."
The divers also had solid performances on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Diving coach Alison Cipri was excited about the performances she saw today.
"The divers were excited and wanted to dive today," said Cipri. "A lot of them are freshmen and were uncomfortable with the 3-meter, but they all did a really good job when it actually came down to doing it."
Junior diver Katie Janonis had outstanding performances on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.
"When it comes to Katie Janonis, you can tell she wants to make it to the NCAA Diving Championships," Cipri said. "With the attitude she brought into the pool today, I am confident she will make it."
Even with all-around great individual and team performances, coach Paska knows there is still more work to be done in order to have a successful season.
"Though the team did outstanding today, we can't be satisfied with what we did," said Paska. "We have to try to improve week by week, day by day, practice by practice."
The swimming and diving team will return to action Friday, Oct. 6, 2006 at the Notre Dame Relays. Start time for the meet is 5:00 p.m.
