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The Illini will honor Clapp, Keehn and Theissen on Senior Day at ARC pool, Saturday.
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Jan. 21, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team hosts its final home meet of the season Saturday against the Illinois State Redbirds. The Illini defeated the Redbirds in Normal, Ill. earlier this season and look to repeat it with another victory this weekend. The action kicks off at 12 p.m. on Jan. 24 at ARC pool in Champaign.
"We are looking forward to our last home competition of the season and the opportunity to honor our senior athletes," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "Having another chance to compete this week will allow us to keep assessing our progress in practice and how the athletes are handling the training."
Illinois State is currently 6-1 in dual meet competition with their one loss from Illinois on Oct. 25. The Redbirds last scheduled meet was on Jan. 17 vs. Ball State, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. Therefore, their last competition was at the FAU Swimming and Diving Invitational on Jan. 3 in Boca Raton, Fla., where they finished sixth out of a six-team field.
"Illinois State has some talented athletes and I am looking for us to sharpen up our details and eliminate some mistakes that we had against Iowa," Novitsky said.
Saturday will be Senior Day in honor of the three seniors: Marissa Clapp, Ali Keehn and Katie Theissen. All three seniors have had strong performances this season for the Illini and have led their team to an impressive record thus far.
Illinois is currently 4-1 in dual meets with their first loss to Iowa in an exciting meet last weekend. The Orange and Blue were down early but closed the gap with several strong performances in front of a packed ARC pool.
A sweep of the top-three spots in the 100 fly by senior Ali Keehn (57.78), freshman Brittany McGowan (58.31) and junior Jen Ivarson (58.76) helped turn the momentum of the meet around.
With two swimming events left in the meet, senior Marissa Clapp took second (2:05.96) and junior CeCe Marizu took third (2:08.06) in the 200 IM to help the Illini tie the Hawkeyes 132-132.
The meet went down to the wire with Iowa leading by a mere four points heading into the final race.
Iowa took first in the 400 free relay to clinch the win while the Illini relay team took second (3:32.00).
A full recap of Saturday's events will be available on fightingillini.com at the conclusion of competition.
