Feb. 1, 2008

West Layfayette, Ind. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team started their quad dual meet strong against No. 20 Wisconsin and host Purdue on Friday night. No. 9 Minnesota did not make it to West Lafayette, Ind., in time for tonight's competition but will compete in the remaining events tomorrow.

Junior Marissa Clapp was the top individual finisher for the Illini. She grabbed third place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.35 and followed up by taking fourth place in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:05.79.

Another impressive performance for the Illini included a season-best time of 4:58.89 for Junior Lindsey Shirley in the 500 Free. Moving her time under five minutes has been a goal heading into the Big Ten Championships, where she earned a second swim last year in the event.

Sophomore CeCe Marizu continued her string of solid backstroke performances with a fourth place finish in the 200 Back. Fellow backstrokers senior Meg Bradley and sophomore Anna Johnson recorded season bests in same event.

"I was pleased with how we performed tonight," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "Some people started making the strides we have been looking for as we move closer to Big Tens."

Saturday's final session will be the last competition the Illini will face until Big Ten Championships in two weeks. However, the Illini aren't looking too far ahead.

"We are keeping the focus on ourselves to build confidence and swim a complete meet," Novitsky said. "Our team has another chance to have a strong day tomorrow and continue to make those necessary improvements."

Saturday's competition is set to begin at 11 a.m. with a full recap available on fightingillini.com after the meet.