Dec. 4, 2008
Oxford, Ohio - After swimming two events the Illinois swimming and diving team concluded the first day of the Miami State Invitational in third place with 108 points. Florida Gulf Coast leads the eight team field with 169 points, followed by Miami with 139 points.
"We had a good start to the meet and I am very pleased with the way we are competing," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "This three-day meet is a good challenge for us and will show us what we can do when we're not fully rested."
The Orange and Blue finished third in the 800 free relay final with a time of 7:34.94. The relay was swam by freshman Kelly Kunkel, juniors Amy Forsberg and Kristen Kloeckener and senior Ali Keehn.
In the final event of the evening junior Kelly Smithwick swam to tenth place (17:25.06) in the 1650 free. Close behind Forsberg finished in 11th (17:28.34) and freshman Torrey Loper in 18th (17:37.59).
The Illini jump back into the pool for the second day of the Miami Invitational at 9 a.m. Friday morning. A full recap will be available on fightingillini.com after the conclusion of the competition.
