NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head swimming coach Scott Cameron announced his team's 2016-17 swimming and diving schedule Thursday.
The schedule features five home meets, the team's annual winter break trip to Puerto Rico, and a challenging slate of regular-season competition, all before league teams converge on Iowa City, Iowa, for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships at the end of the year.
"I'm very excited about the schedule that we have for our upcoming season," Cameron said. "We will have some great matchups with regional and conference opponents, as well as the opportunity to race some very good schools at the Missouri State and Louisville invites this season.
"This will be a great opportunity for our team to get a lot of good racing and fast swims under their belt early in the season as we prepare for the MVC Championships in February."
The season begins with Illinois State's annual Red and White Intrasquad Meet Sept. 17 at Horton Pool. The Redbirds will then face outside competition for the first time when they host both Illinois Wesleyan and Lewis Oct. 1 at Horton Pool, in a triangular meet that will also feature competition between the men's swimming and diving teams from Illinois Wesleyan and Lewis.
Illinois State will travel to meets at Notre Dame Oct. 7 and Missouri State Oct. 8, before another triangular meet Oct. 22, this time against Illinois and Southern Illinois, in Champaign, Illinois.
The Redbirds will head to Indiana State for a dual meet Oct. 28 and host Ball State for another dual Nov. 11.
Illinois State will conclude the calendar year at the Louisville Invite, Nov. 17-19, before ringing in the New Year at the Copa Coqui Invitational, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 5.
The Redbirds will finish the regular season with a home meet with Washington-St. Louis Jan. 14, a dual meet at Northern Iowa Jan. 20 and a home dual with Evansville Jan. 27, when Illinois State's seniors will be recognized before the meet. Redbird divers will compete one last time before the conference meet when they head to the UIC Diving Invitational Feb. 4.
The MVC Championships will run Feb. 15-18 in Iowa City, Iowa. Illinois State's divers will look to qualify for the national meet at the NCAA Diving Zone Meet in Bloomington, Indiana, March 9-11, before the national meet takes place, March 16-18, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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