CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Illinois State Swimming and Diving topped Northern Iowa on Saturday night, defeating its conference foes 190.50-108.50. Senior swimmers Cecilia Holmes and sophomore Rachel Root led the way for the Redbirds, with Holmes recording three individual event wins and Root notching two individual event victories.
"Something we emphasized off the bat was that we needed to come put and race from the start of the meet," said head swimming coach Steve Paska said. "We kept the momentum and met our objectives, therefore leading us to a victorious outcome. I was pleased with how the entire squad performed."
Holmes finish first in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:37.07), and recorded season-high times in the 200-yard IM (2:12.47) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:25.47), while Root came out on top in the 200-yard backstroke (2:08.52) and the 100-yard backstroke (59.31). Senior swimmer Marissa Yontz also had a good day for Illinois State, winning the 100-yard freestyle (51.92) and tying for first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.13).
Other solid swims from the night came from sophomore Laura Paskoff, who won the 200-freestyle (1:54.76), and sophomore Kristin Verkler, who set a personal best 500-yard freestyle time (5:11.26) on route to the event's victory.
Senior diver Wenting Zhang set two new pool records in the 1-meter competition (324.67) and the 3-meter competition (356.48).
"I was happy with Wendy's performance," said head diving coach Phil Hoffmann said. "I was also impressed with Molly's third place finished on 1-meter. As a whole, I thought the girls had a good showing and I am happy with their attitude while competing. They remained focus throughout the meet and it was a good way to end their dual meet season this semester."
Illinois State will be back to compete in the Zippy Invitational on December 5-7 at the University of Akron.
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