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--- Lane 9 News ---
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Illinois vs. Illinois State -- November 10, 2007
NORMAL, Illinois, November 10. BOTH Redbird and Fighting Illini fans packed Horton pool to watch the intense competition between Big Ten conference foe Illinois and Illinois State Saturday afternoon. Although the Redbirds fell to Illinois with a final score of 172-128, the team had several noteworthy performances. Head swimming and diving coach Steve Paska felt that the competition that his team faced will help prepare the Redbirds for the future.
"The meet didn't go according to our plans," Paska said. "I don't know if we were as sharp in the detail portion of our performances, and we had some inconsistency in our races. We are going to try to correct those facets of the races in the next few weeks until the Akron Invitational (Nov. 30- Dec. 2). We had a solid fall campaign and we have a lot to be proud of. We need to carry the momentum from the first semester to Akron in a few weeks.
"I was impressed with the team's performance against such tough competition," Paska said. "Lindsay Dinkelman won the 100-yard breaststroke, Amy Schaefer finished first in the 100-yard butterfly and Tracy Deyell was first in the 200-yard IM (individual medley) and set a personal-best time of 2:11.14. Freshman Molly Gomberg had a personal-best time in the 200-yard backstroke and Caitlin Falconer set a personal-best time in the 500-yard freestyle, as well."
Paska felt that the Fighting Illini were strong competitors.
"It was a close meet (Saturday)," Paska said. "Illinois came in here and showed the audience what type of team it is. Illinois is talented from top to bottom and it does not have many weaknesses. They had some great performances, and Marissa Clapp broke our pool record that she previously held, with a time of 2:19.04."
Head diving coach Phil Hoffmann felt this meet will help prepare the ISU divers for the Akron Invitational.
"Katie Janonis performed well; she received first on the three-meter board and second on the one-meter board," Hoffmann said. "It was good for her, as well as the rest of the divers, to see high-level divers perform. Seeing the dives that they did (Illinois divers) will help our divers improve their performances and their confidence level. I am looking forward to the next two to three weeks of training until the Akron Invitational. I hope results from this meet motivate our divers and their training and they carry that through to Akron."
The Redbird swimming and diving team will now have three weeks off until the Akron Invitational, held in Akron, Ohio, Nov. 30-Dec 2.
Special thanks to Illinois State for contributing this report.
Results: Illinois vs. Illinois State
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