In the second, and final, competition for the Illinois State swimming and diving team in Florida, sophomores
Amy Schaefer and
Lauren Terzis and junior
Katelyn Prorok each recorded two top-ten performances at the FAU Invitational Saturday, Jan. 3, in Boca Raton, Fla., however it was not enough to overcome competition. The `Birds finished the invitational with a final score of 273 points, falling behind Pennsylvania (622), Florida Atlantic (548), Brown (543), Maryland (517), and North Texas (287).
"Today we raced as I expected," said head swimming and diving coach Steve Paska. "This competition is something we gained great experience from. The girls had good performances and I commend the team on their intensity and focus throughout the competition. I think we can definitely learn from this competition."
Schaefer and Terzis led the `Birds in the pool as each recorded two top-ten performances in their respective events. Terzis swam the 1,000-yard freestyle in a sixth-place time of 10:38.95. Schaefer went on to swim the 1,000-yard freestyle in a personal-best time of 10:46.05, placing tenth. Terzis swam the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:15.00, placing seventh for the `Birds. Swimming the 200-yard butterfly event, Schaefer took third with a time of 2:09.02.
Adding to the Redbirds success in the 200-yard butterfly event were freshmen Sarah Coghlin and Amber Siggins, who each recorded a top-ten finish for the `Birds. Coghlin touched the wall at 2:12.72 placing sixth, while Siggins followed closely behind with a seventh-place time of 2:13.22.
Freshman Lauren Boyd and sophomores Christine Byron and Ashley Bachler also achieved top-ten performances for the Redbirds in their respective events. Swimming the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 25.11, Boyd placed sixth for the Redbirds. Byron placed eighth in the 200-yard backstroke with a final time of 2:12.81. Bachler swam the 500-yard freestyle event, placing tenth with a time of 5:15.00.
"A number of girls had a solid day of swimming," Paska said. "We had a number of personal-best times today. (Freshman) Jillian Olson has a personal best in the 200-yard butterfly with her time of 2:14.75 and (freshman) Sarah Piechocinski also had a personal-best in 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:31.59. (Freshman) Jessica McGee also finished with a personal-best time of 1:11.24 in the 100-yard breaststroke. We will use this competition to evaluate the state of each individual swimmer as we head into the dual-meet against Ball State later in January."
Junior Katelyn Prorok led the Redbirds on the diving board, as she finished among the top-ten performers on both the one-meter and three-meter board. Prorok placed second on the one-meter board with a score of 241 before going on to take fourth on the three-meter board with a score of 220.90. Junior Liza Perrino placed eighth on the one-meter board with a final score of 201.80. Freshman Polly Hirt finished closely behind Perrino with a ninth-place score of 185.85.
Despite the loss, head diving coach Phil Hoffmann believes the team performed well as a whole.
"Katelyn had a good performance on the one-meter board, it was one of her top performances this season," Hoffmann said. "The girls have been training hard this trip, and I think the focus of this meet was skill oriented, not results oriented."
The FAU Invitational followed a first-place finish at the Ed Kennedy Meet in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Dec. 31, 2008, and will be the last competition for the `Birds in Florida. The Redbirds will take two weeks off from competition, before playing host to Ball State on Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. in Horton Pool.
