NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State swimming and diving team opened the 2015-16 season with its annual Red and White Intrasquad Meet Saturday at Horton Pool, as the White team topped the Red team, 164-123.
Rachel Root led all swimmers by winning three events, while Courtney Taylor, Kristin Verkler, Laura Paskoff and Kelly Sanks won two events each.
"It was a lot of fun, very exciting, and it was good to see the girls finally get up and race. I saw a lot of good things, but also saw a lot of things we can improve on, too. It was a great chance to knock the rust off for a lot of them," said head swimming coach Scott Cameron, who coached his first meet from the Horton Pool deck Saturday. "There were a lot of them that haven't raced in many, many months, and I am really happy overall with the intensity and the excitement of the meet, and I thought they did a great job."
Root topped the field in the 50-yard backstroke (27.19), 150-yard backstroke (1:31.87) and 100-yard individual medley (1:00.44). Taylor was best in the 50-yard freestyle (24.67) and 150-yard breaststroke (1:45.67). Verkler clocked the fastest times in the 150-yard butterfly (1:34.65) and 100-freestyle (54.24), while Paskoff took first place in the 150-yard freestyle (1:25.89) and 300-yard freestyle (3:06.92).
Sanks led the Redbird divers, sweeping both the 1-meter (228.93) and 3-meter (255.52) events.
"Today showed me some of our strengths that I was pleasantly surprised by, but I also saw some things that we need to work on," said head diving coach Phil Hoffmann. "For this time of the year, it's a good sign of where we are and where we need to go, and I was happy with how far along we are with our training, and I look forward to next weekend."
Other event winners included Casey Balson (600-yard freestyle, 5:55.43), Elyse Pratl (50-yard breaststroke, 31.99) and Maia Cain (50-yard butterfly, 27.07).
The winning time in the 200-yard medley relay was 1:48.28, while the 200-yard freestyle relay was won in 1:40.74.
The Redbirds return to action on Friday at the Dennis Stark Relays, hosted by Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana.
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