Oct. 19, 2007
Normal, Ill. -
Three Illinois State swimmers get to see familiar faces when the `Birds travel to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., Saturday Oct. 20. Seniors Christine Steinbach and Emily Richardson, and junior Alison Wippermann travel to their respective hometowns to compete in front of friends and family. The divers also have a busy weekend ahead of them, competing at Lindenwood Saturday and then traveling to the UIC Diving Invitational Sunday, Oct. 21.
Head coach Steve Paska believes that Saturday's meet is a key tool for figuring out the future lineups.
"This meet will enable us to plan our strategy for the potential championship line up," said Paska. "The staff and I can see them compete in a few different events to see what they will compete in at the Akron Invitational and the MVC Championships. This is a very important four-week period for us, and the team has tremendous focus and intensity right now. We need to follow up the performances from last weekend at Notre Dame and Northern Iowa to these following weeks until the Akron Invite."
Paska thinks traveling to Missouri will benefit the whole team.
"Christine (Steinbach), Alison (Wippermann) and Emily (Richardson) will be able to swim in front of hometown fans and parents," Paska said. "It will be a thrill for them to go home and compete. A few former swimmers will be coming to cheer on their former teammates. A few recruits that are interested in swimming for us will also be attending."
After competing at Lindenwood, the Redbird divers travel to the Flames' Natatorium on Sunday to take on host UIC, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, ITT and Northwestern. Freshman Corrie Heine, senior Katie Janonis, sophomore Liza Perrino and junior Katelyn Prorok will compete at Lindenwood and then join the rest of the divers in Chicago.
Head diving coach Phil Hoffmann is up to the challenge of back-to-back meets.
"The upperclassmen have consistently performed well at the Lindenwood meet," said Hoffmann. "I am excited to see how they do and if they can get some top scores and beat some personal goals to carry out for the rest of the season. The diving invitational on Sunday is a great opportunity for the entire diving team to compete together against top level competition. This will help prepare them for the rest of the season."
Saturday's meet is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the St. Peters RecPlex in St. Charles, Mo.
