Feb. 18, 2011
CARBONDALE, Ill. -
Following the second day of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, the Illinois State swimming and diving team remains in second place with 454 points, behind first place Missouri State with 632. The Redbirds continued their success from day one and broke five school records during day two of the championship meet.
"The Redbirds had an outstanding day, breaking five school records and recording multiple personal and season best swims," head coach Steve Paska said. "We want to repeat our performance tomorrow, continuing to swim fast in the preliminaries to be able to get as many second swims and top eight times as we can. I am looking forward to see how the team performs in the final day of the championships, as well as the conclusion of 3-meter diving events."
The `Birds began the second day of competition by breaking the school record in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Molly Gomberg, sophomore Jeanette Nolte, sophomore Sarah Rendek and senior Amy Schaefer broke the record with a time of 1:45.89. Nolte also broke the school record in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 30.30.
"I am really happy with the performance of the four swimmers during the 200-yard medley relay," Paska said. "They all had terrific splits and breaking the school record was a great way to get the meet started and lead us into the individual races."
The Redbirds continued their record-breaking streak during a close race in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Danielle Schumacher, senior Lauren Terzis, sophomore Tori Alland and Schaefer broke the school record and finished second with a time 7:31.62.
During the 400-yard individual medley, the Redbirds achieved three personal best times. Junior Jillian Olson earned a ninth place finish and a personal best with a time of 4:36.40, followed by senior Ashley Bachler with a time of 4:41.82. Junior Sarah Piechocinski also earned a personal best this morning during the preliminaries with a time of 4:42.66.
Rendek continued her success after competing in the record breaking 200-yard medley relay by breaking the school record in the 100-yard butterfly during her preliminary swim, also earning a personal best with a time of 56.21. Rendek placed first during the finals with a time of 56.85. Schaefer also earned a personal best and third place finish during the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.18. Nolte earned a fifth place finish during the event and junior Erin Hayden also earned a personal best time during the preliminaries.
Schumacher led the Redbirds in the 200-yard freestyle with a third place finish and personal best with a time of 1:51.35. Alland placed seventh in the finals and recorded a season best time during the preliminaries (1:53.55). Also recording personal best times are sophomores Emily Susmarski (1:54.73) and Kelly Healy (1:57.61).
The 100-yard breaststroke added more personal best times for the Redbird swimmers. Junior Jessica McGee earned a personal best during her preliminary swim with a time of 1:06.55. Sophomore Morgan Buechele placed eighth in the finals and earned a season best during her preliminary swim (1:06.83). Also earning personal best times are freshman April Livingston (1:05.97), sophomore Arica Woolbright (1:06.96) and junior Lauren Pojman (1:08.31).
Along with her success in the 200-yard medley relay, Gomberg broke her own record in the100-yard backstroke and earned a forth place finish and personal best time (57.62). Other personal best swims in the 100-yard backstroke include Halley (57.92), sophomore Brianna Winkler (58.01) and junior Megan Weber during her preliminary swim (1:01.74). Senior Christine Byron and Olson both recorded season best swims in the 100-yard backstroke.
The Redbirds will compete in the final day of the MVC Championships tomorrow, February 19. The preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the finals at 4 p.m.
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MVC Championship Results Day 2 
