University of Illinois
Notre Dame Invitational
Illini Finish First Day of Notre Dame Invitational
January 11, 2008 | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 11, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team sits in fourth place with 131 points after the first session of the Notre Dame Invitational held at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. No. 22 Indiana leads the competition followed by No. 13 Michigan and Notre Dame.
"This meet provides us a great opportunity to race against some of the top teams in the Big Ten and the nation," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "No matter the score it is important for us to face this level of competition to help build confidence."
Junior Marissa Clapp was the top finisher for the Illini in the first session, taking 9th place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.61. Fellow junior Katie Theissen, who finished in twelfth place, with a season best time of 2:08.50 followed Clapp.
Grabbing another season best was sophomore Kyla Bachtell on the 3M board with a score of 231.35 points. Another sophomore, Courtney Spivak swam a career best time of 5:26.77 in the 500 Free.
The Orange and Blue received a boost in the 400 Medley from sophomore Cece Marizu, junior Ali Keehn, Clapp and freshman Meghan Mason. Swimming one of the strongest anchor legs for the Illini, Mason, propelled the relay to a time of 3:58.08 and a fifth place finish.
"We are a little tired after all of the training we have done in the past month," Novitsky said. "The pieces continue to fall into place, it's just a matter of time until we see some breakthrough swims."
Two sessions will wrap up the Notre Dame Invitational on Saturday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The first session is scheduled for an 8 a.m. start with the second session beginning at 4 p.m. A full recap will be available on fightingillini.com following the completion of competition.
