Oct. 24, 2007
Normal, Ill. -
Illinois State diver, senior Katie Janonis, has been named the first Missouri Valley Conference Diver of the Week this season. After receiving the award once last season, Janonis proves she is again worthy of the title. The award comes after her outstanding performances so far.
Janonis started the season off strong at Northern Iowa (Oct. 6), placing first on the one-meter board and third on the three-meter. She had season-bests on both the one-meter and three-meter boards when the Redbirds traveled to Lindenwood University last weekend (Oct. 20), leading the team in the diving events. She finished first on both the one- and three-meter boards while in St. Peters, Mo.
Janonis finished up the weekend at the UIC Diving Invitational (Oct. 21), and had two top-five finishes, placing first on the one-meter board with a score of 241.85 and fourth on the third-meter board with a score of 231.2.
Head diving coach Phil Hoffmann felt Janonis was worthy of the award.
"Katie has shown a lot of senior leadership," said Hoffmann. "Although she has worked with a few different diving coaches since the beginning of her time here, she responded well to my coaching and is continuing to improve. As she continues to reach for her personal goals, from now until the MVC Championships, her goals will hopefully lead her to qualifying for the NCAA Championships in March."
Illinois State and Janonis will play host to MVC rival Evansville Friday at Horton Pool. The meet is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
