Oct. 20, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team returns to the ARC pool this Saturday, Oct. 24 to host Iowa State at 1 p.m. in its first home meet of the season. The Illini improved to 3-1 on the season after defeating Michigan State and Oakland this past weekend.
Prior to the meet, the 2nd annual Splash Bash event, sponsored by the News-Gazette, WDWS, and WHMS, will take place at noon at the ARC's outdoor patio and multipurpose room 6. The event features guest appearances by Coach Law and the women's basketball team, free food, music, inflatable games, player autographs after the meet and Big Ten Network t-shirts. There also will be a viewing party for the Illinois/Purdue football game.
Coach Novitsky and her squad are ready to compete in front of a home crowd for the first time this year, with Splash Bash adding to the excitement.
"It's always great to compete at home," Novitsky said. "We need to protect our home pool, and there's just that added level of excitement to finally be able to compete in front of a home crowd. Last year at Splash Bash, we had a great crowd and everybody was excited for the meet. That's what we want. We want a great, exciting atmosphere that's definitely pro-Illinois."
In last year's meet at Iowa State, the Orange and Blue defeated the Cyclones, 169.5-130.5. CeCe Marizu took event titles in the 100 back (58.13) and 200 back (2:05.36), while the 400 free relay consisting of returners Brittany McGowan, Kristen Kloeckener, Kristen Manias, and Meghan Mason swam to a first-place finish with a time of 3:32.48. Additionally, teammates Kelly Kunkel, April McKee, and Amy Forsberg placed first in the 200 free (1:54.51), 500 free (5:07.43) and 1000 free (10:26.46), respectively.
After finishing fifth at the Big 12 Relays last weekend, Iowa State will face the Redbirds of Illinois State this Friday night, before making the trip down I-74 to Champaign-Urbana.
"Looking at times and everything, it could shape up to be another close meet, which is exciting," Novitsky said. "We'll have to bring our best game and keep our focus all the way through. They have some very good swimmers and they're a good team all-around. It's not going to be an easy meet and we're looking forward to it."
For complete results and a recap of the meet visit, fightingillini.com.
