Nov. 30, 2007
Final Stats
AKRON, Ohio -
Led by a third-place finish and school record time of 2:06.71 in the 200-yard individual medley (IM) from senior captain Tracy Deyell, the Illinois State swimming and diving team finished third in the first day of competition at the three-day Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Deyell's time broke the previous school record of 2:07.30 that was set by Jenni Chapman in 1991.
The Redbirds were led throughout the first day of competition by a total team effort, as every ISU competitor finished with a season-best swim in her respective event.
Illinois State head swimming and diving coach Steve Paska was pleased with his team's performance in a meet that has a similar format to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which will be held Feb. 14-16 on the campus of Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill.
"(Friday) was a solid start to the meet," said Paska. "We have a lot to be proud of; however, we can perform at a better level and we will focus on that for Saturday and Sunday.
"We had a fabulous swim (Friday) out of Tracy (Deyell). Setting the school record in the 200 IM was a great accomplishment for her after all of her hard work over the past four years."
In the relay events, Suzanne Almedia, Kathleen Borkovec, Jessica Santi and Amy Schaefer finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a finals time of 1:37.82. Not far behind was the ISU B team relay of Tiffany Rentner, Jena Allie, Lindsay Dinkelman and Valerie Zaleski, which finished tenth. The 400-yard medley relay, which consisted of Christine Byron, Deyell, Schaefer and Almedia finished third with a final time of 3:56.74, and the foursome of Molly Gomberg, Dinkelman, Rentner and Zakeski finished tenth in the same event.
In individual events, Almedia was also a top-finisher for ISU, as she placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a person-best time of 24.14. Borkovec and Santi joined Almedia in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle. Both Allison Fishbein and Catharine Danenhower finished in the top-24 of the 200-yard IM. Christine Steinbach, Erin Woodruff, Amy Schaefer and Caitlin Falconer all finished in the top-24 in the 500-yard freestyle.
Senior diver Katie Janonis led the Redbirds on the boards, as she placed fifth overall in the final round of diving.
"Overall, I'm happy with the team effort from our divers," said Redbird head diving coach Phil Hoffmann. "Every diver on our team finished in the top-24. Katie did well and performed better in the final round than she did in the preliminary round.
With two days left of competition, Saturday's preliminary round will kick off at 9 a.m., with final-round action slated to follow at 6 p.m.
