Oct. 4, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's swimming and diving team look to start its competitive season on the road in back-to-back meets this weekend. The Redbirds start the weekend off competing against Notre Dame (Oct. 5), and take on Missouri Valley Conference rival Northern Iowa (Oct. 6) Saturday.
Head coach Steve Paska is looking forward to the start of the season.
"The Notre Dame meet has been our season opener for many years now, so the returning members of the team know how this meet will work," said Paska. "It will give the newcomers a fantastic start to the season. The entire team is involved this weekend and many of them will be in several events."
In Redbird history, this is the first time opening weekend will include back-to-back meets.
Paska is up to the challenge of back-to-back meets.
"This is the first time that we have started the season with back-to-back meets," Paska said. "That caused me to change the lineup for Friday. I want to keep some of the team rested for the Northern Iowa meet on Saturday because it is a dual-meet against a conference foe. Individuals might compete more Friday and less on Saturday or vice versa. We need to keep them as competitive as possible for the entire weekend."
After Friday's relay meet, the `Birds will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete against the Panthers on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
Paska is eager to see how the team will compete.
"Northern Iowa has recently added some talented newcomers to the team," Paska said. "We have to overcome the two days on the road and be as mentally tough as possible to compete Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to see how the team responds to the challenge ahead of them."
Friday's meet is set to begin at 5 p.m. at the Rolfs Aquatic Center in Notre Dame, Ind.
