Video courtesy Kirstie Crook.
The women of Illinois State University are getting excited for their championship season. The above video shows them preparing for Missouri Valley Conference Championships, which begin tomorrow at Southern Illinois University.
The Redbirds didn’t post any dual wins this season, but they were the runners-up at the Dennis Stark Relays in October and the Copa Coqui Invitational in San Juan, Puerto Rico this January.
The team’s most recent meet was the Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame January 29th through the 30th. Top Illinois State finishers at that meet included Savannah Rubocki (6th- 1650 free: 18:08.06, 7th-400 IM: 4:37.14) and Courtney Taylor (8th- 100 breast: 1:06.16, 12th- 200 IM: 2:09.68).
MVC Championships will run from tomorrow, February 17th through Saturday, February 2oth. The Redbirds will take on Missouri State University, the University of Southern Illinois, the University of Northern Iowa, and the University of Evansville. Last season, Missouri State took the team title, their eighth-straight conference championship. Southern Illinois finished second, and the Redbirds came up third. Last year’s All-Conference returners for Illinois State include Rachel Holm, Rachel Root, and Taylor.
You can follow along with the meet here.