Oct. 13, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State Redbird swimming and diving team will compete in a pair of meets Friday and Saturday as they begin their competitive 2011-12 season. The Redbirds will be traveling to Notre Dame for the Dennis Stark Relays at 4 p.m. Friday, and will be back home Saturday for a dual meet against the Evansville at 6:30 p.m. at Horton Pool.
The Redbirds will be one of five teams competing in the Dennis Stark Relays Friday in South Bend, Ind., including host Notre Dame, Texas Christian, Oakland, and Valparaiso. Following the tough competition Friday evening, the Redbirds will host their first home meet of the season and welcome in fellow Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville.
Hosting a home meet as part of Homecoming 2011 against a Valley opponent is a special event in the eyes of ISU head coach Steve Paska.
"We believe we're going to have a huge crowd," Paska said. "This is the beginning of our competitive season with the whole team. This weekend puts Illinois State on stage as a swimming and diving program as we prepare for the 2011-12 season."
Illinois State's head diving coach Phil Hoffmann is also preparing his student-athletes for the back-to-back competitions this weekend.
"To have a conference opponent this early in the season is definitely a good chance for us to see where we stand at this point," Hoffmann said. "Evansville is a strong team, and I am looking forward to see how we perform."
The formats of the two meets are different from one another. Friday's competition will consist of ten separate relay events. There are two to four swimmers representing ISU in each relay, and the athletes have an opportunity to compete in up to four or more events. The Redbirds will then recharge for the next night for the dual meet format, which will include diving events, against the Purple Aces.
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