University of Illinois
Big Ten Championships
Orange and Blue Conclude 2008 Big Ten Championships
February 24, 2008 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 24, 2008
COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Illinois' swimming and diving team finished the 2008 Big Ten Championships at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Saturday. Minnesota won the team title with 602 points, while the Illini ended the meet in eleventh place with 84 points.
Competition kicked into another gear on the final day of the championships with Big Ten meet records set in all six swimming events. Orange and Blue swimmers joined in the action, starting the preliminary session strong with thirteen straight and twenty total season best times. Four Illini swimmers earned finals swims on Saturday.
Sophomore Jen Ivarson was the top finisher for the Illini with a third place finish in the bonus final of the 200 Fly. She followed an excellent preliminary time with an even better final round time of 2:03.11, the fourth fastest time in school history.
"I really wanted to swim faster in the finals than I did in prelims," Ivarson said. "I swam a better time last year and was really excited to see that I had swam a new personal best."
Sophomore Cece Marizu earned her second finals swim of the meet in the 200 Back and took seventh place in the consolation final. Her preliminary time of 2:01.63 was the fourth fastest in school history.
"I figured it was my last event, so what do I have to lose?" Marizu said. "I knew I had put in the work to swim a good time."
"CeCe made the choice earlier in the year to become the best swimmer she could be," Novitsky said. "Each practice she has worked extremely hard and built the confidence to excel like she did this weekend."
In addition to Marizu, senior Meg Bradley earned a finals swim in the 200 Back, taking seventh place in the bonus final. Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree swam a career best 2:02.86 time during prelims to move into fifth place on the all-time best times list.
Junior Marissa Clapp concluded her meet with a bonus finals swim in the 200 Breast. She finished the meet as Illinois' top scorer earning final swims in the 400 IM and 200 IM, in addition to the 200 Breast.
"Overall, I felt really good in the water during the meet." Clapp said. "However, today it didn't come as naturally. I was nervous in prelims because it (the 200 Breast) is my favorite event, but I was able to relax for the finals and had more energy at the finish."
Junior Lindsey Shirley jumped from eighth to third place on Illinois' all-time fastest times list in the 1650 with a time of 16:51.05. She knocked 11 seconds off her previous season best time to swim an NCAA B time standard and score at Big Tens for the first time in her career.
"She got better as the meet went along," Novitsky said of Shirley. "She has worked hard all year and gained confidence throughout the season. It was really exciting to see her breakout at this meet."
The Illini waited for Big Tens to put together their finest meet of the season. They recorded 59 season best times over the course of the meet, along with setting 40 career best times.
"I thought we put together a great team meet," Novitsky said. "We preformed well in all six sessions, which shows they listened to us (the coaches) about working on the details and finishing the season strong."
