Dec. 7, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Sophomore Danielle Schumacher was named Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week, Dec. 7, after a successful performance at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Schumacher earned multiple first place finishes and season and personal best times, leading to the Redbirds to a second place finish with 1146 points, during last weekend's meet.
Schumacher began the weekend by earning a first place finish and personal best time in the 500-yard freestyle. After recording a personal best time, first place finish and Zippy Invitational record in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries (4:56.70), Schumacher went on to rerecord her personal best and the meet record in the finals (4:56.12). She also led off the 200-yard freestyle relay with a season best time in the 50-yard freestyle (24.93).
During day two of the Zippy Invitational, Schumacher continued her success and placed first in the 200-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 1:52.39. Additionally, she was a member of the first place 800-yard freestyle relay, setting a season best time of 7:36.12, and just missing the team record. With the last day of competition, Schumacher worked to lock in the Redbirds second place finish by placing second in the 1650-yard freestyle and earning a personal best time of 17:03.07.
Head coach Steve Paska believes this is an honor that Danielle well deserves.
"The hard work and consistency in which Danielle trains with contributed greatly to her success this weekend," Paska said. "Her desire to succeed and her passion for racing really played a role in her performance at the weekend's meet. Looking forward to the spring semester, I believe the momentum of the Zippy Invitational and success of our fall season, will lead to a successful MVC meet in February."
Schumacher joins four other Redbirds, seniors Molly Gomberg and Liza Perrino and sophomores Tori Alland and Jeanette Nolte, who have been honored by the MVC earlier this season with the Swimmer and Diver of the Week award.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
###
