Dec. 6, 2008
Final Stats
AKRON, Ohio -
The Illinois State swimming and diving team boasted several outstanding performances as the Redbirds held on to third place after the second day of competition at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio, Saturday. The `Birds achieved numerous personal-best and season-best performances as the they finished day two with a score of 870.50, falling just behind Ohio (1043.50) and Akron (902).
"Once again the success of tonight came from the entire team's effort," said head swimming and diving coach Steve Paska. "Everyone on the team is producing results and contributing to the team's success. Tonight was another outstanding night of swimming for the Redbirds here at the Zippy Invitational."
Competition began with the 200-yard medley relay as freshman Jillian Olson, sophomore Lindsay Dinkelman, and seniors Tiffany Rentner and Jessica Santi finished the relay with an eighth-place time of 1:49.12. Sophomore Molly Gomberg, senior Allison Fishbein, and freshmen Jessica McGee and Lauren Boyd comprised the Redbird's second relay team that followed closely behind their teammates with a 10th-place time of 1:49.52.
Leading the Redbirds in the 400-yard individual medley (IM) event was freshman Amber Siggins who finished the race in 12th-place with a time 4:41.90. Senior Alison Wippermann achieved a season-best time in the 400-yard IM as she touched the wall with a 15th-place time of 4:47.02.
Swimming the 100-yard butterfly event for the `Birds was sophomore Amy Schaefer who finished among the top 10 with an eighth -place time of 58.59. After shattering her personal-best record in the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1:54.78 during preliminaries, Schaefer then went on to take seventh in the 200-yard freestyle finals with a time of 1:55.30.
"Amy swam in back-to-back events with the 100-yard butterfly event and 200-yard freestyle event," Paska said. "She challenges herself every day in practice, she wants to swim fast, and she loves to compete. She had an outstanding swim tonight, her hard work really paid off."
Sophomore Ashley Bachler and freshmen Sarah Coghlin and Michele Stoeppelman followed Schaefer's lead in the 200-yard freestyle as each recorded a personal-best time in the event. Bachler recorded a personal-best time in preliminaries (1:56.22) before placing 14th in finals with a time of 1:56.62. Coghlin also achieved a personal-best time in preliminaries with a time of 1:55.91 before taking 15th in final-round action (1:57.60). Stoeppelman followed her teammates as she accomplished a personal-best time in the preliminary round (1:57.13), before finishing 16th in finals with a time of 1:58.52.
The 100-yard breaststroke event was led by Dinkelman as she recorded a fifth-place finish and season-best time of 1:05.99. Fishbein achieved a personal-best time and sixth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke event as she touched the wall with a time of 1:06.92. Junior Caitlin Falconer finished the 100-yard breaststroke preliminaries with a personal-best time of 1:07.69 before placing 12th with a time of 1:08.02 during finals. Freshmen Kristin Lynch followed closely behind with a 13th-place time of 1:08.88 in the 100-yard breaststroke event.
The 100-yard backstroke event proved to be just as successful for the Redbirds, as Gomberg placed tenth (59.04), Olson placed 13th (59.92) and Byron placed 15th (1:01.33), each recording a season-best time in the event.
On the diving side, juniors Katelyn Prorok and Liza Perrino each placed in the top 15. Prorok placed 10th on the three-meter board with a score of 205.80, while Perrino placed 14th with a score of 182.40.
"I am happy with the ways the girl's performed tonight," said head diving coach Phil Hoffmann. "Tonight's success was an entire team effort; the girls competed well as a team. They kept positive throughout the competition and I look forward to seeing them perform with this positive attitude and team cohesiveness in the future."
Freshman Lauren Terzis, Coghlin, Bachler, and Schaefer swam the 800-yard freestyle relay event as the relay team took second with a final score of 7:41.89. The Illinois State "B" relay team, Stoeppelman, Falconer, Fishbein, and senior Erin Woodruff, followed suit as they placed eighth with a time of 7:51.32.
"Finishing second in the 800-yard freestyle relay was a great way to culminate the evening," Paska said. "The "B" relay placed eighth and our performance in the relay was a great way to end tonight's competition. I look forward to watching the girls compete tomorrow in the final day of competition."
The Redbirds' final day of competition at the Zippy Invitational will begin tomorrow, Sunday Dec. 8, with the preliminary round starting at 8 a.m. Final-round action will take place at 4p.m.
