Feb. 21, 2009
Final Stats
Ann Arbor, Mich. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team concluded the Big Ten Championships Friday evening. The Orange and Blue continued their impressive ways breaking another school record, achieving another NCAA "B" cut time, making eight changes to the all-time top individuals list and two changes to the all-time fastest performances list. Heading into the finals Friday, almost 89% of the team achieved season-best times and 73% of the team achieved lifetime-best times.
"This morning we were a little up and down in our swims," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "But we were still able to get some second swims and have a high number of season-best and lifetime-best times. We just missed breaking through to final swims in a few areas."
Preliminaries:
Friday morning the preliminary races were held for the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly. In the 200 back junior CeCe Marizu became the fourth-fastest individual with her time of 2:00.30, which was a lifetime-best time and earned her a final swim.
Senior Katie Theissen's time of 2:01.60 made her the fifth-fastest individual in school history in the 200 back.
Juniors Anna Johnson and Morgan Gilman swam to lifetime-bests in the 200 back with times of 2:05.84 and 2:08.13, respectively.
In the 100 free prelims, three Illini made changes to the all-time top individuals list. Freshman Laura Adrian became No. 6 on the list with a time of 51.10, Junior Kristen Kloeckener became No. 8 with a time of 51.44 and junior Meghan Mason became No. 10 with a time of 51.25.
Also in the 100 free sophomores Sara Stoneburg (52.26), Corey Kasten (53.68) and Lauren Frendreis (54.80) all swam to lifetime-best times. Freshmen Caitlin Conroy and Kristen Manias recorded season-best times.
In the 200 breast senior Marissa Clapp had an outstanding swim and broke her third school record of the championships. Her time of 2:12.95 also marked her third NCAA "B" cut time of the weekend and earned her a final swim. The race also made her No. 4 on the all-time top individuals list in the 100 breast (1:03.40) and was the ninth-fastest performance in the 100 breast. Lastly her split of 30.28 in the 50 breast made her No. 6 on the all-time top individuals list.
"Marissa did great again today and capped off an amazing meet for herself," Novitsky said.
Also in the 200 breast junior Amy Johnson (2:23.13), and freshmen April McKee (2:23.27) and Rachel Japp (2:23.76), all achieved lifetime-best times.
Next in the 200 fly prelims junior Jen Ivarson had a stellar performance to make her the second all-time top individual and tie for the second all-time fastest performance with a time of 2:02.02.
Senior Ali Keehn achieved a lifetime-best time (2:04.20) while junior Kelly Smithwick (2:05.56) and sophomore Ann Miller (2:07.67) achieved season-best times.
Finals:
Friday afternoon the finals for the 1650 free were held. Freshman Torrey Loper had a strong performance that made her No. 9 on the all-time top individuals list and her 1000 free made her No. 10 on the all-time top individuals list. Juniors Amy Forsberg and Kelly Smithwick also swam to lifetime-best times
To officially kick-off the final session of the Big Ten Championships the Illini swam to a time of 3:25.76 in the 400 free relay. The relay was swam by Adrian, Kloeckener, Mason and Stoneburg.
Next in the 200 back finals Marizu swam hard to finish with a time of 1:59.03.
"Cece's performance was great in the prelims today and for her to come back and swim faster at night is outstanding," Novitsky said.
Marizu's swim landed her the No. 2 spot on the all-time top individuals list and was Illinois' 10th-fastest performance in the 200 back.
"Overall this meet was so fast this year," CeCe Marizu said. "I'm happy with my final race tonight and felt I split well. The end of the championships is bittersweet because I will really miss the seniors especially Marissa Clapp, who works very hard and is the heart of our team. In the future I'll have to step up and keep swimming hard."
Clapp finished out her stand out weekend with a time of 2:13.66 in her final swim in the 200 breast. The race was No. 2 on the all-time fastest performances list, her prelim swim in the 200 breast from Friday morning currently holds the No. 1 spot.
"I'm very happy with how I did and how our team did," Marissa Clapp said. "There was an extremely high percentage of lifetime best times on our team and that's really why we are here. We are here to swim faster than we have all season. Now that my races are over I'm a little sad, because these 30 girls are the greatest swimmers and friends you could ask for."
At the conclusion of competition Clapp was recognized for being the High Point Winner for the Illini throughout the Big Ten Championships.
Diving:
Freshman Britni Fisher participated in the platform diving prelims and finished with a score of 159.95.
The winner of the 2009 Big Ten Championships was Indiana with 823 points, followed by Minnesota in second with 665 points and Penn State in third with 429 points. The Illini finished in 11th with 93 points.
The Orange and Blue will jump back in the pool next Saturday, Feb. 28 with the Boiler-Make-It Invite in West Lafayette, Ind.
