Oct. 27, 2006

Illinois at Illinois State Results in PDF Format
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NORMAL, Ill. - Leading a group of predominantly newcomers, reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week Marissa Clapp set the tone Friday night at Horton Pool in Normal.

The Illini sophomore tallied three first-place finishes that included a pair of pool records against the Redbirds. Clapp, who accomplished the feats in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, also swam the second leg on the winning 200 medley squad.

Head coach Sue Novitsky saw Friday's meet as an opportunity for many Orange and Blue newcomers in an effort toward continued development so most seniors didn't make the trip.

Fifteen of the 26 Illini participants were newcomers and needed to assert themselves.

Freshmen Amy Forsberg, Cece Marizu and Kyla Bachtell earned the first top honors of their collegiate careers while first-year swimmers Jen Ivarson and Amy Johnson returned to the top spots this week. Two of the four swimmers in the 400 free relay, Anna Johnson and Kristen Kloeckener, also won for the first time in their debut seasons.

"We were a very youth-minded team here," Novitsky said. "I did that to allow them to have experience getting the work done and getting race experience, learning how to be leaders in the pool. Our young kids definitely stepped up."

Following an intense week of practice, Illinois won 15 of 16 events and will continue to improve on times, Novitsky said.

"One of the things I've continued to work on is learning how to race - being able to switch off when something's not feeling right and being able to get in there and fight and get the job done but overall I was very happy with how we competed."

Next week, the Illini resume conference action with a visit to Ohio State on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.

Illinois results:
200 Medley Relay
1. Craft, Clapp, Ivarson, Theissen ('B' relay) 1:50.98
2. Marizu, Amy Johnson, Keehn, Stevens (`A' relay) 1:51.93
5. Gilman, Hatch, Nowak, Boneva ('C' relay) 1:56.57

1000 Freestyle
1. Forsberg 10:30.02
2. Kloeckener 10:37.10
3. Smithwick 10:38.01

200 Freestyle
1. Clapp 1:56.24
3. Shirley 1:57.84
4. Stevens 1:57.99
-- Nowak X2:00.98
-- Meyer X2:04.42

100 Backstroke
1. Marizu 1:00.26
2. Craft 1:01.40
3. Anna Johnson 1:01.78
-- Gilman X1:03.24

100 Breaststroke
1. Amy Johnson 1:08.52
4. Andrea Grandcolas 1:11.27
6. Hatch 1:12.62

200 Butterfly
1. Ivarson 2:06.40
4. Smithwick 2:14.39
6. Spivak 2:22.06

50 Freestyle
2. Theissen 24.86
5. Forsberg 25.89
6. Boneva 26.34

1-meter Diving
1. Bachtell 261.59
2. Bernardo 258.52
3. Bain 238.87
-- Spillone X213.89

100 Freestyle
1. Theissen 53.95
4. Shirley 55.22
6. Keehn 56.06
-- Boneva X57.29
-- Meyer X58.88

200 Backstroke
1. Marizu 2:08.00
2. Craft 2:10.60
4. Anna Johnson 2:15.33

200 Breaststroke
1. Clapp 2:19.87 *pool record
2. Amy Johnson 2:28.01
6. Nowak 2:40.95
-- Andrea Grandcolas X2:36.09
-- Hatch X2:40.51

500 Freestyle
1. Forsberg 5:09.36
2. Kloeckener 5:10.85
3. Stevens 5:11.51

100 Butterfly
1. Ivarson 58.46
3. Keehn 1:01.11
6. Gilman 1:03.37
-- Spivak X1:07.22

3-meter Diving
1. Bain 247.72
3. Spillone 207.15
4. Bernardo 195.37
-- Bachtell X210.45

200 IM
1. Clapp 2:07.14 *pool record
2. Marizu 2:13.49
5. Keehn 2:15.91
-- Amy Johnson X2:15.00
-- Shirley X2:15.35
-- Andrea Grandcolas X2:26.70

400 Freestyle Relay
1. Anna Johnson, Stevens, Kloeckener, Theissen ('A' relay) 3:37.79
2. Ivarson, Forsberg, Nowak, Smithwick ('B' relay) 3:43.62
6. Spivak, Craft, Meyer, Hatch ('C'relay) 3:59.02