Jan. 29, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team will be heading to Minneapolis, Minn. this weekend to compete in the two-day Big Ten Quad Duals. The Illini will be facing Minnesota, Wisconsin and Purdue starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30 at the University Aquatic Center.
"For the team this is our last chance to race prior to the Big Ten Conference Championships," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "It is going to be a terrific opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the country. There should be the potential for some good match ups and the coaches will look for how the athletes respond in a very competitive environment. We will continue to focus on ourselves and strive to make improvements in all aspects of our races and on the boards."
No. 9 ranked Minnesota is currently undefeated in dual meets with a 5-0 record. Minnesota also finished in first place by almost 400 points in the Ohio State Invitational beating out nine other teams. In their last meet against Washington, Minnesota won 164.5-97.5. Minnesota had top performances from Jillian Tyler, who won both the 100 (1:01.76) and 200 breast (2:16.55), and Ashley Steenvoorden who took first in the 1000 free (9:55.34).
No. 17 ranked Wisconsin is also undefeated in dual meets with a 6-0 record. In their last competition against UW-Green Bay the Badgers swept all 11 swimming events with a top performance from Candice Peak who was three-for-three in all her events.
Purdue is currently 3-5 in dual meets and finished sixth in the Art Adamson Invitational and ninth in the Ohio State Invitational. In their last competition Purdue fell to No. 13 Indiana in Bloomington. Top performances for the Boilermakers came from junior Leah
Henninger in the 200 free (1:51.65), and senior Elyse Dudar in the 1000 free (10:17.47).
The Illini are currently 5-1 in dual meets after defeating Illinois State 219-81 in Champaign last weekend. Senior Marissa Clapp broke a 13-year-old pool record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:21.28. Clapp also finished first in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.13.
Senior Katie Theissen took first in the 100 back (59.02) and 100 free (53.92). Also for the Illini junior Amy Johnson took first in the 100 breast (1:06.60) while sister Anna Johnson took first in the 50 free (24.41). Junior Kelly Smithwick took first in the 200 fly (2:07.21) and fellow junior CeCe Marizu took first in the 200 back (2:03.16).
A full recap of the day's events will be available on fightingillini.com at the conclusion of competition.
