Dec. 1, 2007
Final Stats
AKRON, Ohio -
With several outstanding performances during the second day of the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio, the Illinois State swimming and diving team holds on to its third-place position as it heads into the third, and final, day of competition Sunday. With 843 points, the Redbirds sit just behind Ohio (1033) and Buffalo (937).
"It was a very exciting night in Akron, Ohio, for the swimmers" Illinois State head swimming and diving coach Steve Paska said. "It was another day where every member of the team had her best times of the year. The preliminary rounds this morning set the tone for the finals, and we performed better (Saturday) than we did (Friday). There was so much energy and excitement at the pool, and very fast races took place."
Saturday's top finishers for the Redbirds was sophomore Lindsay Dinkelman, who took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke finals with a season-best time of 1:05.75, after she placed second in the preliminaries (1:06.80). Senior Tracy Deyell also had a strong day for ISU, as she took second place in the 400-yard individual medley (IM) final, with a personal-best time of 4:29.38.
"This has been a great meet for Tracy," Paska said. "She had a phenomenal night (Saturday). She had her best split time ever in the butterfly event and turned around and swam 20 minutes later to anchor the 800-yard freestyle relay. Lindsay also has had a phenomenal meet. The entire place was electric in the final round of the 100-yard breaststroke when she took first place. It was a lot of fun watching them both compete (Saturday).
Also participating in the 100-yard breaststroke finals were senior captain Valerie Zaleski, and juniors Allison Fishbein and Lauren Williams. Zaleski placed ninth in a time of 1:07.98, while Fishbein and Williams placed 16th and 20th, respectively. Senior captain Christine Steinbach, junior Alison Wippermann and sophomore Catharine Danenhower all placed in the top-24 of the 400 IM.
Freshman Christine Byron, Dinkelman, Deyell and junior Suzanne Almeida started the evening off for ISU, as the quartet placed fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.69. Freshman Molly Gomberg, Zaleski, junior Tiffany Rentner, and senior captain Kathleen Borkovec also swam the event for the Redbirds and placed twelfth with a time of 1:52.41.
Freshman Amy Schaefer and Gomberg qualified for the final round in the 100-yard butterfly event, placing 14th and 22nd, respectively.
Four Redbirds qualified for the final round of the 200-yard freestyle. Borkovec placed fifth (1:54.98), while junior Erin Woodruff just outside of the top-10 with an 11th-place time of 1:57.03. Not far behind was freshman Ashley Bachler in 14th place (1:57.93) and senior Jena Allie, who finished 15th (1:58.68).
In the 100-yard backstroke event, Byron led the Redbirds with a seventh-place time of 59.90 in the final rounds after she finished fifth in the preliminaries (59.50). Gomberg (1:00.24) and Allie (1:01.65) also participated in the final round of the event, with each finishing with season-best swims.
The last swimming event of the evening was the 800-yard freestyle relay, which consisted of Schaefer, Steinbach, Borkovec and Deyell. The Redbirds finished with a season-best time of 7:45.20 to place fourth in the event. Woodruff, Zaleski, sophomore Caitlin Falconer and Bachler swam the event for the Redbird B team and placed eighth overall (7:56.25).
"Amy (Schaefer) led the A relay (of the 800-yard freestyle relay) off with a personal-best time," said Paska. "The B relay ended the morning session and gave us the momentum we needed for (Saturday). Each student-athlete swam her best time in this relay and it was a fitting end to a great day of swimming."
The Redbird divers also had a busy day, competing in the three-meter diving competition. Freshman Corrie Heine was only points away from making it to the final round of competition.
"I am really happy with how Corrie performed (Saturday)," said Redbird head diving coach Phil Hoffmann. "She placed ninth in the preliminary round in her first championship-format meet. She was very consistent, and it was good to see her step up and take form. I look forward to the next two months of getting back into training for our competition in Puerto Rico (Jan. 6) and the (State Farm Missouri Valley) Conference Championships (Feb. 14-16)."
The third, and final, day of the Zippy Invitational resumes Sunday with preliminary races scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Final-round action will take place at 4 p.m.
