Oct. 8, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's swimming and diving team looks to dive head-first into the competition at the Notre Dame Relays Friday at 5 p.m. in the Rolfs Aquatic Center in South Bend, Ind. The ISU divers will be joining the swimmers for the first time since the intrasquad Red/White meet.
Head coach Steve Paska is excited for the team to compete together.
"The team is very excited to get the season off the ground with the Notre Dame Relays," Paska said. "This meet always allows me to see how a number of our swimmers compete in a bigger meet setting like Friday will be."
Friday's relays is the first sprint-oriented meet of the season for the Redbirds. The set up will allow for the `Birds to show off their depth and versatility in both their swimmers and divers.
Paska looks for some of the sprinters to perform well in multiple events.
"A handful of the swimmers are going to be competing in five to seven events each on Friday," Paska said. "So, this meet is going to be a huge evaluation tool to see how resilient our swimmers are for the future dual meets that the season holds."
Swimmers that will be competing in multiple events in Friday's relays include junior Amy Schaefer, sophomores Sarah Coghlin and Jessica McGee and freshmen Jeanette Nolte and Sarah Rendek.
Diving Coach Phil Hoffmann looks forward to the different format for Friday's diving events. There will be one combined six-dive score event and one three-meter synchronized event.
"It is going to be a good format for the divers to try something new," Hoffmann said. "This is the only time that we compete in this type of meet all year, so it is always an exciting atmosphere."
Senior Katelyn Prorok and freshman Maureen Doyle will both perform six-dive lists and combine total points for the first event. In the second event, sophomores Brittany Tazzioli and Polly Hirt will compete together with a six-dive synchronized list.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing how the `Birds respond and compete against the perennial powers that we are facing in this meet," Paska said. "Our team is motivated and ready for competition. It should be an exciting meet."
The Redbirds will be competing against Notre Dame, Michigan, Cleveland State, Saint Mary's and Valparaiso in the 10 relays Friday.
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